A House of Cards
by LTGAavenJames
Summary: Very sorry! Sorry going under total reconstruction. New edited chapters will be coming along soon and you'll know when the summary is back in here. Read inside to know more :S
1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

I am so sorry! I really did not want to do this but I felt like I had no other choice...

A sudden, new thought came to me and I told myself, "This story isn't what I had wanted it to be in some sort of odd way..." so then I thought... "I'll just re-write it!"

I know, I know. Not a very nice thing to do when I'm so far out into the story and haven't even finished it yet but I will promise you: it **will** be better! There is no turning back from here (because I already finished chapter one and am now working on chapter two). So please, stay tuned. I will re-post the chapters as soon as I have chapter three done because I want you have at least have something to read.

Again, I am **very** sorry about this. I also know that author's aren't allowed to just post their notes as a chapter but I couldn't do it any other way. I would have just told all the people on the alert list one by one but... If you didn't know, I'm not too fond of that because I'm a lazy person. Why not just kill a whole bunch of birds with one stone?

The chapters will be coming in as fast as I possibly can but I can't promise you anything since I will be starting college very soon and will be moving into the dorms this Sunday (August 24th). Please don't be angry with me, and please be patient with me.

I'm working on it!

**This is reposted on the latest chapter.**


	2. Chapter Two

**A/N:** Here is another chapter to _A House of Cards_ and yet another little babble from the author. I just wanted to have a little "Did you know?" moment, though it's nothing really a "Did you know?" moment. If you were ever wondering why I named this story _A House of Cards_, then hurray for you because I am just going to explain that right now :P See, you all know what card is what in a deck of cards right? Well, of course, there's the Joker and he takes after the joker card obviously. Now for Batman, he represents the King; the strong, manly type. Meanwhile, his alter ego Bruce Wayne represents the Jack; the young royalty who is all about having fun and going to parties. And that just leaves Aidan Jaxon who of course would be the Queen; the one who is important enough to be wanted by the King and wishes nothing to do with the joker. Ta-da! I have explained the title :P

**Disclaimer:** I do not own anything that belongs to the Batman story. I do own this particular story as well as the plot and the original characters created here.

Enjoy the story!

**In the last chapter:**

"Do you know anyone by the name of Aidan Jaxon?" Bruce asked Lucius, his eyes still gazing out the window. He stuffed his hands into his pockets as he waited for Lucius' reply.

"Aidan Jaxon? Yes, I know her – why?"

"Do you know about her… abilities?" the young Mister Wayne turned sharply toward Lucius and stared at him with very stern eyes. Bruce saw the look on Lucius' face and knew right away that the other man knew.

**Chapter Two**

"We have to try and find her Batman," Commissioner Gordon pleaded as he spoke to Batman on the rooftop of what he considered to be his building. "She's practically read everything in his mind already, she's holding very important information that we could use,"

Batman growled low in his throat, his back facing Gordon, as he stared out into the city. "Don't you think I've already started to look?" he bit back harshly. He scanned the streets, watching people walking up and down the streets but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. He stepped closer to the end of the roof, placing a foot against the ledge of the railing there. Batman bent forward, placing his elbow against his knee and resting his chin in his hand. "Have you figured out if the Joker could have known about Aidan before her arrival?"

"I'm sorry," Gordon said sadly, "I really can't remember anyone around me whenever I spoke on the phone," he finished. Deep inside he thought of the possibility of one of his men double crossing him but he didn't want to think of such things, too saddened by such thoughts. "Do you really think he could've known about her?"

"Commissioner," Batman growled out as he moved away from the ledge and turned around to face Gordon. He took firm, yet graceful, steps toward Gordon and stopped just out of arms reach from him. "Why do you think you failed to mention her to me _before_ the interrogation?"

Gordon looked away nervously, fidgeting on the spot where he stood. One hand went up and pushed his glasses back away from his nose but his eyes still wouldn't meet with Batman's. "I didn't want anyone to over hear me talking about her," he replied finally, a little too slow for Batman's taste.

"Did you think you could use her to see who I really am?" Batman spat out bitterly. His voice was raspier than usual and he had a fire in his eyes that seemed like if he started at something he wouldn't stop. He took a single step forward toward Gordon, noticing how the older man jumped just slightly.

"Well, no, but-"

Gordon looked up and Batman was gone, yet again doing his silent disappearing act. The Commissioner sighed dejectedly before heading toward the door to go back downstairs and away from the rooftop. "He should at least warn a man before he starts to talk to himself," Gordon mumbled semi-furiously just as he passed through the door.

However, obviously unknown to Gordon, Batman was still there but hid himself in the shadows. Once Gordon was gone he came back into the light of the moon and went back to looking down at the streets. "If I was the Joker," Batman started, growling angrily at himself for even thinking of such an option, "Where would I hideout?"

--

Aidan woke up with her body burning and aching everywhere but her face. She twisted around between the bed sheets she realized she was in and tried to let her eyes adjust to the darkness once again. Her small hands gripped onto the sheets reflexively when she felt a cold breeze brush by her bare skin and she pulled it closer to her body.

She half expected Joker to be there again, to repeat what he had done several times before to her, but it seemed that she was all alone the room for the first time in hours. Aidan tried to push herself up into a sitting position but winced and fell back down when a sharp pain shot up through her body. She bit her lip to stop herself from making a sound and pushed herself up again, ignoring the pain.

With the sheets still pressed tightly to her body, Aidan leaned back until she felt the cold wall beside the bed and folded her legs neatly beside her. She let out a long sigh, happy that the cold wall was cooling her burning body. She sat like that for a bit, just letting the cold cement cool her body. Then, Aidan started to look around in the darkness with narrowed eyes like she was able to see in the cave-like darkness.

She smiled when she seemed to have found what she was looking for and the lights suddenly switched on. A frown marred her face when she immediately saw the remains of her torn clothes and frowned even more when she saw stains of blood on the floor. She brought her legs towards her and pulled the sheets until it was just underneath her chin as a way to try and keep warm.

The thing white sheets didn't help one bit as another cool breeze brushed by her. Aidan looked around to see where the breeze could be coming from but saw no windows but only one door. She glanced beneath the door and realized that there was a large enough gap for wind to pass through. Her hopes of escaping through an opening all gone.

Suddenly, the same door that she had been glancing at opened in one smooth movement and then closed again. Aidan didn't have to look to know that it was Joker who had entered. "Well, good evening beautiful," Joker greeted as he sauntered his way over to the bed, the only piece of furniture in the small room. "Like me yet?"

"No," Aidan replied quickly, face turned away from her capturer.

Joker pouted like a child as he reached the bed, staring at her with fake disappointed eyes. He plopped down on the bed, landing beside where Aidan sat against the wall. "Now that's not - that's not nice! I like _you_!" Joker stressed out. He reached over and cupped the side of Aidan's face, smiling when she flinched at his touch. "You don't use your, uhm… your little shield trick any - anymore," he pointed out.

Aidan sighed. "Because my head hurts," she admitted quietly, though she didn't quite understand why she would tell him that. "_You_ hurt my head,"

**Warning! It's not that sexual but I'm just doing this just in case it might be for someone else! Warning!**

Joker smiled as he leaned forward and placed a small kiss on Aidan's exposed shoulder. The kiss was soft and gentle, not like the other ones Joker had planted on her before. Aidan was caught by surprised from his gentleness and turned her head slightly to stare in disbelief. The hand that cupped the side of her face slowly descended and caught onto the end of the bed sheets and started to pull it down as Joker continued to place soft kisses on her shoulder until he reached her neck.

Aidan, shocked by the sudden change, still tried to move away from him and scooted a bit in the opposite direction of where Joker sat. She held on tightly to the sheets and was surprised that Joker didn't tug at it when she held it in place. "Go away," she whispered to him.

Joker brought his legs up on the bed and started to crawl toward Aidan. He began to place light kisses along her shoulder like before and wrapped his other arm around her waist to pull her close. When Aidan refused to move closer to him, Joker just crawled closer to her. He started to suck gently on her neck, much like he did the first time but this was much gentler. His other hand reached around and gently gave Aidan's right breast a small squeeze through the sheets.

**Okay! It's over!**

Suddenly, the door was slammed open to reveal one of Joker's goons who looked about to collapse form lack of air. "Boss!" the young man shouted through his clown mask.

"_Can't you see I'm busy_!?" Joker half roared half growled out. He didn't turn around to face his goon but kept his eyes focused on Aidan's eyes when he pulled away from her neck.

"There's a message for you!" the goon insisted, not leaving his spot by the door despite his obvious fear. "We think it might be from Batman!"

"Batman?" Joker jumped away from the bed and bowed low to Aidan. "If you'll excuse me," he said politely before rushing out the door. "What could it be? What could it be?" Joker asked himself excitedly out loud as he skipped his way over to where his goon was leading him. He walked around to the front of the abandoned building he had stationed himself and his head titled to the side when he saw one of those large flashlight things he would see downtown.

Joker hopped around it until he was in front of it and he stared at it with a large smile. "It's _the_ bat-signal," he poked at it when his finger and then quickly pulled his hand away, almost afraid to break it, before poking it again but with a bit more force. "Oh goodie!" he clapped his hands together and jumped up like a happy child. "It's like… it's like he's _telling_ me to call him! Ooh! It's a date!" Joker started to laugh uncontrollably, his head rolling back as he laugh increased in volume.

Just then a loud crash was heard from the back and Joker stopped his laughing to turn around sharply. His eyes narrowed angrily at realization, "Oh! He's a tricky bat!" he yelled before rushing toward the room he had left Aidan in. He shoved anyone or anything out of his way as he ran. Joker skidded to a quick stop in front of the now broken door. His hands fisted in frustration when he saw no one inside the room. "Why wasn't anyone around the door!" he shouted, referring to the fact that there weren't even any fallen bodies around.

--

Batman sped away quickly in his tank-like vehicle. He had put Aidan to sleep with sleeping gas and wrapped her tightly when the sheet he had found her with and placed her in his lap as he drove. The girl's head rest against his chest but would move around a bit because of the unsteady ground he drove over. He held her steady with one arm behind her back and holding firmly onto her arm.

The ride was quick and silent until he finally made it to his own hideout. Alfred was there to meet him and help him move Aidan to the normal, everyday car as Batman changed out of his suit. Now, he was Bruce Wayne again.

Alfred held the door open for Bruce and they quickly headed back to the penthouse. Bruce would glance back continuously at Aidan who sat in the backseat, still asleep.

"I'm sure she won't be waking up until morning Master Bruce," Alfred said, trying to ease Bruce's paranoia. "Though, just curious sir, why are you taking her to the penthouse?"

"I need to know something," was all Bruce said throughout the whole ride. Even as they made their way to his penthouse and placed Aidan gently on his bed Bruce still said nothing. Alfred looked from his master to the still sleeping Aidan again and again with a worried expression before walking away to retreat to his sleeping quarters.

Bruce sat by Aidan's sleeping body, staring at her seemingly serene face. He just stared at her for a while, letting the hours roll on by, like he was waiting for her to wake up. Aidan rolled over to her side in her sleep, her back now facing Bruce. He watched curiously as the lights in the room started to flick off one after the other until they were all turned off.

Aidan curled herself into a tight ball, seeking for warmth. Her hand reached up and grabbed onto the pillow beside her and held it tightly to her chest.

Bruce shook his head and stood up, walking away from the bed. He stole another glance at Aidan's sleeping body before removing his clothes to change into only a pair of baggy jogging pants. He snatched up his robe and walked over to the other side of the room where all the chairs where. He sat down and laid the robe over him like a blanket.

He looked back at Aidan again before letting his body relax into a light sleep, just in case she stirred, so he would wake up easily.

--

"Good morning Miss Jaxon,"

Aidan jumped in the bed, clutching the bed sheets to her chest and stared wide-eyed at Alfred. She looked around the room, seeing all the unfamiliar surroundings. "Where – where am I?" she asked, stumbling on her words as she slowly became awestruck by the expensive objects around her.

"You are in Mister Bruce Wayne's penthouse," Alfred replied. He stood in front of the bed, right across Aidan, and waited for her to let things register in her head.

"Bruce Wayne," Aidan repeated quietly. Her eyes went back to Alfred but now she seemed to be more relaxed. "I take it you're Alfred Pennyworth," Aidan smiled warmly at Alfred and he returned her smile. She shifted around a bit to be more comfortable and started to look around again.

"Is there anything I could get you Miss Jaxon?"

Aidan shook her head no and smiled as she watched Alfred nod and walk away. She went back to gazing up at the objects around her. She wanted to get up and move around but remembered that she was still unclothed and the realization caused a light blush to appear on her cheeks.

"Did you have a nice sleep?" Bruce asked, coming from the other room. He was now fully dressed in business type clothes and smiled warmly at the young woman in his bed.

Aidan looked up just as Bruce walked up to the bed and sat down beside her. She eyed him curiously while pulled the covers closer to her body. She blinked her eyes severely times and glanced back and forth from Bruce to the objects in the room. She bit her lip and looked at him hesitantly. She looked down to her lap and started to scream uncontrollably, shutting her eyes as tightly as she could.

Bruce jumped back, startled at her reaction and looked at her for a bit. He was unsure of what to do as he watched her clutching at her head and screaming her lungs out. Aidan started to shake her head, repeatedly shouting for something – or someone – to get away from her. Her legs started to kick up and the sheets fell loosely around her when she had let go to grab onto her head.

Bruce jumped forward, grabbed onto Aidan's shoulders and pulled her hands away from her head as he pushed her against the bed. He moved around her, careful not to get kicked by her thrashing legs, and sat against her thighs to make her stop jumping around. Aidan continued to scream but had slowly ceased her kicking around. Bruce watched with narrowed eyes as Aidan wouldn't stop screaming bloody horror.

"What happened to her?" came Alfred's worried voice.

"I don't know!" Bruce shouted over Aidan's screams. "She just… She just started to scream!"

Bruce looked away from Aidan's face and traveled downward, growling in a low tone when he saw bruise marks around her neck and shoulders. His eyes continued to traveled downward, his lips frowning even more when he saw more bruises across her chest and on her breasts.

Suddenly Aidan's screams stopped and slowly fluttered her eyes open. She looked up at Bruce's face as he was still hovering over her, his hands still gripping onto her shoulders. "My head doesn't hurt anymore," she whispered, causing Bruce to stop his inspection of Aidan's body and to look into her eyes. "_You_ don't hurt my head,"

"What _happened_ to you?" Bruce asked between clenched teeth.

Aidan turned her head to the side, trying to avoid Bruce's angry stare. "Nothing," she answered.

Bruce shook her a bit, but not so much to hurt her. "What _happened_?" he repeated.

"I don't want to remember it, okay?" Aidan spat back. "Get off of me!"

Bruce let go of Aidan's shoulders and sat back, though he was still sitting on her. Aidan still wouldn't turn back to face him and Bruce couldn't stop the sigh that escaped his lips. He readjusted the bed sheets so that they were now covering Aidan from the neck down before getting off of her and off the bed. He turned to look at Alfred who gave him a sympathetic look pointed toward Aidan. "Get her some clothes Alfred, I'm heading out,"

However, before Bruce took another step, he looked back to Aidan. As if she already knew what he wanted to know, a small smile appeared on her lips. "Off to your bat cave?" she joked, not looking at Bruce.

The young man sighed and headed for the exit. "Don't tell anyone she's here," Bruce said just before the elevator doors closed behind him.

Alfred walked up beside the bed and smiled warmly as Aidan who returned the kind gesture. "I'll be right back with a few clothes for you, I'm sure I can guess your size correctly," Alfred said with a smile.

"In his head…" Aidan started, looking up at Alfred with curious but worried eyes. "Has he always been so… self-sacrificing?"

"I'm afraid so Miss Jaxon,"

"He wants me to help deal with Joker,"

"You do only what you can,"

Alfred nodded to Aidan before heading toward the elevator. He gave her one last smile just before the doors closed on him.

--

Aidan snuggled herself in her newly bought clothes. Instead of walking around naked, she now wore a loosely fit dark green t-shirt that Alfred was kind enough to have her shoulder's covered securely. She wore fitted navy jeans, socks that matched her shirt, and very comfortable running shoes. She turned to Alfred with a large smile and rushed to him to give him a warm hug.

Alfred patted her on the back until she let go to get a closer look at Bruce's penthouse. Aidan skipped happily around the floor, stopping a few times to examine a few things a bit better. "So what's Bruce really like Alfred?" she asked him from the other side of the floor. She twirled one last time before finally stopping in front of the glass wall to stare out into the city.

"Well, he's a very kind man and extremely loyal to those he is close to," Alfred followed Aidan to where she stood and also gazed out the window. "What did you see in his head?" came his curious and to be expected question.

"That what he wants most is a love he thinks he'll never achieve as long as Gotham needs Batman," Aidan crouched down to the ground and then fell backward to sit on the floor with her legs outstretched. The sun was high in the sky, indicating that it was around twelve in the afternoon. "It's the one thing that kept showing up in his head,"

Alfred let Aidan's words echo in his mind as he thought deeply about it. He suddenly became saddened by her words, feeling overly sympathetic for his master and friend like a father would to his son. "I think I've already known that about Master Bruce," he admitted out loud.

Just then the elevator doors opened and in walks none other than Bruce himself. He glanced around the penthouse when he saw that Aidan was in bed anymore and then saw her and Alfred over to the left of the penthouse. "I see she's feeling better," Bruce commented with a smile. He walked up to them and then sat down beside Aidan in a quick fluid motion.

"There's going to be a small social party later today," Bruce started before turning toward Aidan with that smile still there. "I'd like you to accompany me, and then I'll take you back to Gordon,"

Aidan eyed him carefully, thoughts full of odd suspicions. She turned around to Alfred, silently asking him if she should go ahead with it, and the older man nodded his head with slight encouragement. She turned back around to face Bruce but her eyes still held a few suspicions. "I don't have anything to wear," he pointed out the obvious, but Bruce didn't seem bothered by it.

"Already taken care of," he said matter-of-factly.

"And what's this party about?"

"Just another social event I have to attend to keep up appearances," Bruce stood up then and fixed his clothes of any wrinkles. "The party won't be until the sun begins to set, so you are free to roam around but only within the penthouse walls,"

He walked away before either of them could say anything else and retreated into his little secret room. Aidan stared after him for a while and then looked up at Alfred. "Maybe I should have checked what was on his mind?"

"Maybe some secrets must be kept secrets," Alfred suggested. He took a step back when Aidan pushed herself off from the floor to stand up beside him. "I have a dress waiting for you in the restroom and I thought you might have wanted some make up so those are there along the counter,"

Aidan smiled warmly and nodded to Alfred before going back to looking around the room. The sun was still high up and she couldn't think of anything to do during her "stay" inside Bruce's penthouse. She tried to look around and see if he had anything that she would be able to occupy herself with but found nothing of interest. Aidan found a few books but didn't feel up to reading her time away. She had already spent – what she thought to be – a whole day just lying down on a bed.

She cringed and stopped walking as images of the time she had spent in Joker's hands ran through her mind. Her hands went up to her head instinctively when her head began to throb painfully. She could faintly hear Alfred asking her what was wrong before calling for Bruce. She fell to her knees with a hard thud, but that pain was nothing compared to the one in her head.

Once Bruce heard Alfred calling for him he rushed out from the room and instantly noticed Aidan on her knees against the floor. She hadn't started screaming like she had before when her hands were clutching at her head like that. He rushed over to her side and gently placed his hand over one of Aidan's.

Suddenly, Aidan's grip on her head and hair loosened and she seemed to look more relaxed. Her eyes were closed and she held onto Bruce's hand and brought it against her cheek. "What are you doing?" she heard Bruce's far away voice.

"Your calm thoughts are a lot more better than _his_…" Aidan opened her eyes, looking up into Bruce's dark chocolate eyes with her garnet-hazel ones. "And no, I don't want to talk about it,"

"It would really help," Bruce tried to reason, frowning and eyes pleading.

"A lot of things would help," Aidan said, closing her eyes again, and leaned more into Bruce's open hand. "But sometimes those things can't be done,"

--

Maniacal laughter echoed throughout the empty building, silencing anyone or anything that was once making noise and causing everyone to stop all his or her movements. The clown-like villain of Gotham City leaned by in his large spinning chair with arms extended outward. "I don't need a woman!" he shouted out loud to himself. "She was uh, she was too distracting I think – don't you think?" he spun around and stopped, pointing a knife at one of the goons who stood near him.

"Yes?" the young henchman replied, to only regret it moments later.

"She was _not_ distracting!" Joker shouted back, throwing his knife at the poor soul. The knife landed right at the man's chest, where his heart would be, and then he fell to the ground. "No, no… I need to – to get back to causing des – destruction to my favourite, unsuspecting Gotham!"

Joker jumped out form his seat and started to march toward the exit. "Let the games continue!"

**End Chapter**

--

**Preview of the next chapter:**

_Joker's laughter echoed in Batman's ears and he stared in awe and confusion at Aidan. "I knew she'd come out of that little shell," Joker knocked lightly against Aidan's head, laughing more when she didn't react to it at all. "Let's go down now beautiful," Suddenly Aidan shot down toward the ground at high speeds. Joker was caught off guard and tightened his hold on her. "Not so fast!" and Aidan immediately slowed down.  
_

_Batman stared after them, still caught off guard. He turned around when he heard Lucius getting to his feet. "What just happened?"_


	3. Chapter Three

**A/N:** Here I am again, with another Author's Note. Hopefully you are are liking or at least starting to like this story. I'm not quite sure if I've "captured" the actions and emotions of the characters properly, but I am trying. I don't know if I want to have Joker liking Aidan _more_ than just one of his little "pets" but I am sure bent on trying to make Batman/Bruce Wayne and Aidan come together somehow. Not sure how to do it yet, mostly because I still don't know if I want Joker to be mixed in with a love triangle. Though, that would make things interesting. But, I'll just see how things go. And so... one more thing.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Batman or anything related to Batman, sadly. Even though I've fallen for that lovely Joker, I still don't own 'em. I do own Aidan Jaxon and this plot.

Now, enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

"She was uh, she was too distracting I think – don't you think?" he spun around and stopped, pointing a knife at one of the goons who stood near him.

"Yes?" the young henchman replied, to only regret it moments later.

"She was _not_ distracting!" Joker shouted back, throwing his knife at the poor soul. The knife landed right at the man's chest, where his heart would be, and then he fell to the ground. "No, no… I need to – to get back to causing des – destruction to my favourite, unsuspecting Gotham!"

Joker jumped out form his seat and started to march toward the exit. "Let the games continue!"

**Chapter Three**

The sun was just beginning to pass over the horizon, maybe a couple of hours before it was completely gone, when Aidan had decided to prepare herself for this social party Bruce was taking her to. She had locked herself in the bathroom for quite some time, making Alfred wonder how long does it really take to slip on a dress and apply a few hints of blush or lipstick. Alfred glanced from the bathroom door to the sun outside, a low frown on his face.

He made his way over to the entrance of his master's most beloved room and knocked once, waiting patiently for Bruce's head to pop out through the opening. Alfred smiled warily when Bruce's head did pop out and looked at him expectedly. "What is it Alfred?"

"I think I might know what Joker did to Miss Jaxon," Alfred whispered in a low voice, almost afraid that Aidan might hear their conversation. "She's in the bathroom right now,"

Bruce fully stepped out and stood beside Alfred, taking a glance toward the bathroom before facing Alfred. "What do you think might have happened?" he asked curiously.

"Well," Alfred leaned in closer, still whispering in a low tone of voice, "Those aren't bruises,"

Bruce raised a single brow on his forehead as soon as Alfred's words left his lips. He stared at Alfred to see if the old man was positive, and only saw seriousness in his eyes. "If they're not bruises then what…" Bruce couldn't finish his sentence when he finally caught onto what Alfred was trying to tell him. First his eyes widened and his jaw dropped for a moment, the shock taking him off guard momentarily.

Then his eyes narrowed angrily and his teeth clenched tightly together. His mind suddenly became flooded with all the different things the Joker might have or did do to Aidan while she was with him. Bruce became disgusted at the thoughts that swam through his mind and his hands fisted so tight his knuckles were turning white. "Are you positive about this Alfred?"

Alfred nodded his head and Bruce immediately started to march toward the bathroom. He grabbed onto the doorknob and turned it just a bit, noticing right away that she had left the door open or had just recently unlocked it. Bruce swung the door open and shut it quickly behind him, locking the door. He came face to back as Aidan held onto the small jacket Alfred had gotten her to help conceal the marks around her shoulders.

Bruce looked at Aidan from head to toe and back up again. She wore a silk-like black dress that dragged along the floor just a bit and the small white jacket around her covered her from the elbow to her neck. Aidan looked at him with confusion upon his intrusion into the bathroom. Bruce took a step forward and extended his arm out to grab onto Aidan's arm.

He pulled her to him, making sure they were face to face, and pushed the jacket aside with his other hand. His eyes started to just stare at them, examining them, to see if Alfred's theory was correct. Bruce looked up at Aidan before looking back down and gently pressing against one of the bruise-like marks.

"He likes to call them 'love bites', though he never really bit me," Aidan answered for Bruce having searched his mind to figure out why he was acting the way he was. Bruce let his hand linger at the crook of Aidan's neck and shoulder as he looked up at Aidan and into her strangely coloured eyes.

"Stop doing that," Bruce demanded, his voice sounding angry.

"Sorry," Aidan looked away and fidgeted for a bit, unable to withstand Bruce's angry glare anymore. "But don't worry, I only read the thoughts that are floating around freely; I don't go into the secret places,"

"Why couldn't you have just told me what he did earlier?" Bruce growled out, his hands gripping not-too hard onto Aidan.

"And ruin your perfect day? I would never,"

Aidan yelped in surprise when Bruce shook her roughly, her eyes closing shut when he did. "What do you care anyway? Just because you're _Batman_ doesn't mean you can or must save _every_one!" Aidan shouted at him. Bruce's hands loosened until he finally let go of her, letting his hand fall limply at his sides. His eyes were suddenly downcast when Aidan looked at him, his lips pushed together in a tight line.

"I thought you said you wouldn't read any secrets?" he said in a monotone, lifeless voice.

"I didn't it – it was floating," Aidan half lied. She reached out to his arm and tugged at it gently, trying to gain Bruce's attention; trying to get him to look at her. When Bruce didn't look up at her but turned his head instead, Aidan tugged on his arm again and let her other hand grab onto his. She laced her fingers around his and tugged again. "I'm sorry," she whispered, leaning her face closer to Bruce's to see his reaction. "I didn't mean to read that – you were sort of just… throwing it out there,"

Bruce squeezed onto Aidan's hand hesitantly, slowly turning his head toward her. "I think I would rather have you not read me anymore," he said to her sternly, like an adult disciplining a child.

Aidan nodded her head and smiled warmly at Bruce, their hands still holding each other. Bruce reached up and opened Aidan's jacket, pushing it passed her shoulders and letting it rest at her elbows. He noticed Aidan's curious stare and knew she wasn't reading him anymore and so he continued. His eyes went on to try and spot every mark along her shoulders and then started to trail down her chest.

Bruce made a move to reach out and touch her chest until Aidan stopped his hand, a worried look on her face. He ignored her worried face and pushed passed her hand to continue what he was doing. His hand lightly brushed against the bare skin there and pushed the fabric of her dress aside as he continued to look for all the marks. "I wonder why he didn't do anything else to you…" he whispered out loud, though he wasn't really expecting Aidan to answer the question – which she didn't.

Suddenly he pulled away from her and let go of her hand, surprisingly upsetting Aidan a little bit. Bruce took a step backward, looking Aidan over, and then pulled her jacket back up to close it back together. He looked her over one last time before exiting the bathroom. "We leave in an hour," he said to her through the closed door.

Aidan listened to his footsteps walking farther away until she couldn't hear them anymore. She turned around and looked at herself in the mirror, examining her face very closely. She let her fingers run through her hair and let out a dejectedly sigh. "I wonder why too," she whispered to herself out loud.

--

Bruce had made Aidan travel with him in his helicopter, stating that it was much safer than riding out on the streets. Aidan kept clear from looking down through the window _while_ the helicopter was in motion, her hands gripping onto the seats in reflex whenever the helicopter would turn unexpectedly.

Bruce was wearing a very clean-cut, black and white tuxedo that matched Aidan's black dress and white jacket nicely – though it wasn't really in intention. There were two other young women in the helicopter, shoving Aidan farther to the window so they could sit on either side of Bruce. Aidan scowled at him, when he just shrugged his shoulders at her, before nearly screaming when the helicopter shook a bit.

"Relax darling," one of the women said to her, the raw German accent making her sound slightly sophisticated despite her looks, "Have you been so unfortunate enough to have never ridden in a helicopter?"

"Oh no, I prefer jet planes," Aidan replied drily, earning an evil glare from the German-sounding woman. "I think it's just because I've never had to share a helicopter,"

Bruce started to chuckle, his light laughter being followed by the other two women, which made Aidan want to roll her eyes. He turned to Aidan and winked at her only after making sure the other two women weren't paying attention.

Aidan found his new attitude completely different from when they were in the penthouse, but only figured it was like that because he had to keep up an image that would steer away from Batman. She smiled hesitantly at Bruce before turning her head away from him, tying her luck by staring out the window.

She turned back sharply when she felt a hand grab onto her elbow gently and saw that Bruce was still looking at her with a small, but warm, smile. She looked down and saw his fingers wrapped around her elbow with his thumb rubbing small, comforting circles to calm her uneasiness.

The other two women started to chat about something Aidan couldn't care even less about and she drowned out their voices by concentrating on the sound of the helicopter blades spinning around above her.

The sun had set a long time ago, their arrival to the party further away now because Bruce just had to pick up the other women. Aidan was almost daydreaming when she heard the other woman, the one with a slight Australian accent, calling for someone.

"Excuse me, hello?" the Australian woman called, her eyes staring at Aidan.

"Hm, what?" came the garnet-hazel eyed woman's response.

"Why are you wearing such a long dress on such a hot night?"

Aidan looked down and noticed that the other women were wearing knee-length dresses, the German wearing a grassy-green colour and the other wearing a cool blue, while her dress was so long it dragged along the floor. Aidan quickly started to think of some sort of good excuse or sarcastic remark to reply with to the women when she felt Bruce's hand squeeze her arm gently.

"I think the dress suits you just fine," he said, their eyes locking together, "I think the long dress brings out your shape a lot better than a short one would,"

The other women immediately began to question Bruce, asking him why he hadn't told them he preferred long dress to short ones. Bruce looked away just as his thumb went back to rubbing soothing circles against Aidan's skin. She smiled to herself and looked out the window just as she saw that the helicopter was coming around a large building.

"We are nearing the landing spot sir," the pilot said just as he started to hover above the helipad.

"Good, let's finally get to this party," Bruce laughed lightly as the helicopter settled onto the ground. As soon as the helicopter landed, Bruce moved his arms away from all the women except for Aidan's elbow. The other two hopped off first and then Bruce followed them. Aidan stared at him for a bit, wondering why did hadn't let her off before him.

Then, surprising Aidan and the other two especially, Bruce let go of Aidan and held out his hand for her to take. Aidan took is timidly, letting Bruce help her off of the helicopter, and almost tripped if Bruce hadn't helped her balance by placing his other hand against her waist. Bruce thanked the pilot, hands still on Aidan, as he led everyone away from the helicopter and toward the doors. "Are you all right?" he whispered low into Aidan's ear, not wanting the other two to hear.

"Why are you being so nice?" Aidan whispered back, ignoring his question.

"I don't know why," Bruce said just as he released Aidan from his grasp. The two women went back to their places at his side and Aidan walked just behind him as the four of them stepped into the room through the large, opened doors. Aidan listened to Bruce welcome everyone and greet everyone in the party, saying his few words. Apparently, this was a party that he had set up for himself for some unknown reason.

The two women didn't waste anymore time and hurriedly began walking around the room, leaving Bruce and Aidan alone. He turned back to her and wrapped his arm around hers before leading off somewhere. "Where are we going?" Aidan asked suspiciously, keeping to her word by not reading Bruce's mind to know what was going on.

"I want you to meet someone," he said to her with a smile. His arm that was wrapped around hers moved away only to be placed around her waist. Bruce led her away from the large crowd and into a smaller, but still large, room. He let go of her for only a moment to lock the door and returned to holding her by the waist. "Still not reading my head?"

"Maybe I should be reading it," Aidan mumbled out loud as Bruce walked her further into the room. She saw someone standing by the bookcase she saw farther away. She looked up at Bruce and then back to the stranger not too far away.

Bruce pulled his arm away from Aidan and stood not too far away from her. He straightened himself out and cleared his throat to gain the other man's attention. "Lucius," Bruce called out, his voice not too loud but still firm and commanding.

"Lucius?" Aidan repeated. She gasped when the other man turned around, her hand going up to cover her mouth. "Lucius Fox," she repeated.

"I trust you've been keeping your powers in check," Lucius said as he started to walk closer to where Bruce and Aidan stood side by side.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Aidan pursed her lips together and crossed her arms over her chest angrily. She really had no idea what he meant.

Lucius chuckled, stopping just a foot or two away from Bruce and Aidan. "You might not remember because if they were smart they would've erased it but," Lucius looked at her up and down, examining her reactions to what he was saying, "When you were just a young teen your powers were wild and out of control, you almost destroyed a whole city.

"So they put a little chip in your head, saying that it would dull your powers but a tad but I can see that it was dulled more than just a tad. However, they warned everyone to keep you happy, keep you stress free, because if your mind became too unstable than it would break that chip," Lucius finished speaking and waited patiently for his words to sink into Aidan's head. She looked up at him, confused, as she tried to figure out why he would say such things.

Aidan reached out and quickly grabbed onto Lucius' hand before dropping it like she had just been stung. "You think Joker's trying to make me lose my mind so I could break the chip myself?" she asked, still confused. She turned back to Bruce and pointed an accusing finger at him. "You told him about my little fit?"

"'_Little_'?" Bruce asked, smirking when Aidan turned from him with a huff.

"If the Joker gets his hands on you again-" Lucius' sentence was cut off by Bruce's low growl of distaste, like he was angry with Lucius for even thinking about that. "If the Joker were to get his hands on you again I want you to _not_ resist this thoughts, no matter how disturbing they are, so you won't put any stress on your mind,"

"What? That's absurd! You have no idea what it was like! He may seem like a lunatic, a wild dog, but he is a complete and utter genius! It was like he already knew I would read his mind! Every thought, every memory, was blocked by some kind of code that would take an expert years to decode! But the things he did let me see…" Aidan's voice lowered to almost a whisper, her eyes now looking distant and far away, "Those images… The things he wanted to do, the things he _would_ do to get his way were all…"

Aidan's hands went up to her head and her eyes closed tightly. Bruce was about to reach for her when he heard a loud explosion in the other room. He looked up to Lucius, silently asking him to watch over Aidan, before running off. Lucius helped Aidan stand and carefully led her to the sofa near by. "Try not to resist too much Aidan," Lucius reminded her, "Try and calm down,"

Meanwhile, Bruce had quickly changed and was back to being Batman. He rushed over to the room where everyone was in for the party and saw Joker throwing people and objects around like a child on a temper tantrum. "Every time I find something fun to do Batman always comes and wrecks it for me!" he heard Joker complain loudly just before throwing everything on the table beside him to the ground.

Batman snuck around behind the crowd to get behind Joker. He made sure that his body was bent low and kept near the wall as he made his way around. Just as he was about to make his move he heard Aidan's sharp cry.

Both Joker's and Batman's head spun toward the sound. Joker with a smile on his face and Batman cursing himself. Batman looked up from the crowd and saw Joker's eager face just as he was about to move. Faster than any average could, Batman rushed through the crowd and jumped in front of Joker's path. "Where do you think you're going?" his voice once again raspy and husky.

"I knew – I knew she would be here," Joker laughed, head rolling back and back arching just a bit.

"And how would you know that?" Batman flexed his hands, getting ready to pounce.

Joker brought a hand up and poked at the side of his head once he stopped laughing. "I can see what she see – when we're close enough of course," Joker took a few, wobbly steps toward Batman, twirling a small dagger in his hands. The two of them glared at each other in the eyes, Joker stopping his steps just a foot away from where Batman stood.

The crowd around them stepped away in fear, making sure they made as little noise as possible. Even the Joker's own goons took a few fearful steps back. "So uhm… who invited you to the party?"

Suddenly Batman lunged forward, punching Joker in the side of his face. Joker stumbled a bit and jumped to the side just in time to dodge another one of Batman's punches. He pulled out another dagger and started to swing it toward Batman.

The masked vigilante hero sidestepped the swings easily and brought an arm up to stop a swing before punching Joker in the gut. However Joker grabbed onto Batman's arm, pulled him downward and kneed him in the chest. The two took a few moments to settle themselves before jumping at each other again. Joker, still gripping on Batman's arm, swung him around and released him to throw him a few feet away.

Batman quickly regained his footing, turned around, and froze on the spot when he saw that Joker wasn't there anymore. He turned his head to the direction of where he had left Aidan and saw Joker just turn the corner. He slapped himself mentally before chasing after Joker.

Joker skipped and laughed happily as he neared the room where he knew Aidan to be. He turned around and started to laugh uncontrollably once he saw Batman chasing after him. "Are – are we playing a game now? May – maybe capture the flag?" Joker shouted in between fits of laughter. "Except, there's no flag," he skidded to a stop and kicked down the door. He ran for Aidan, throwing Lucius away from her, and moved to stand behind her just as Batman entered the room.

Aidan started to thrash against Joker's hold, even so far as to hit him repeatedly with her small fists. Everything but the people within the room started to float straight into the air until they were about a foot from the ground. Both Joker and Batman looked around but Batman only looked for a second before focusing his eyes on Joker.

"That's different," Joker whispered. His arms were tightly secure around Aidan and he started to move the both of them toward the windows. "Well, I think the pretty lady needs some rest," Joker said as he edged closer and closer to the windows. As soon as his back was against the window he brought one hand around and laid it flat against the glass. He had grabbed onto Aidan's small hands and pressed them hard against his chest to stop her from hitting him but was still able to hold onto her.

"You wouldn't drop her," Batman stated as calmly as he could.

"Who said anything about dropping?" Joker looked almost disappointed that Batman had suggested he would do that. He turned his head a bit and looked outside. He turned to Batman with a large grin before leaning forward just a tad and then jumping right through the glass.

Batman rushed to the window but stopped just inches away when he saw Aidan and Joker floating in mid-air. Joker had one arm over Aidan's shoulders and the other wrapped around her waist tightly so he wouldn't fall to the ground. Aidan's head was lowered so Batman couldn't see her face and a thin fiery purple aura surrounded her body.

Joker's laughter echoed in Batman's ears and he stared in awe and confusion at Aidan. "I knew she'd come out of that little shell," Joker knocked lightly against Aidan's head, laughing more when she didn't react to it at all. "Let's go down now beautiful," Suddenly Aidan shot down toward the ground at high speeds. Joker was caught off guard and tightened his hold on her. "Not so fast!" and Aidan immediately slowed down.

Batman stared after them, still caught off guard. He turned around when he heard Lucius getting to his feet. "What just happened?"

"Aidan's lost control again, and the last time this happened she had – no, her mind was _linked_ to the last person she read," Lucius answered, walking up beside Batman in time to see Joker and Aidan drive off.

"How can we break it?"

"I don't know… Last time she didn't destroy the whole city but she did destroy at least one large chunk of it, leaving everything in ruins, before collapsing from exhaustion,"

"So you're telling me I have to wait until she destroys almost everything to snap her out of it?" Batman's teeth ground together in anger, his thoughts now full of the city being left with nothing but dust. "And what happens until then?"

"Joker could command her with a single thought, no need to even speak," Lucius was about to turn to Batman until the masked man jumped out of the window. He watched as Batman glided down to the ground, landing with such force that he even heard Batman land. Tires screeched in the distance and Batman's tank-like vehicle appeared in a blink of an eye.

Batman quickly got in the strange vehicle and drove off after the Joker. He increased his speed as soon as he saw the back of the vehicle Joker was in. He rammed into the back of it several times, secretly happy when he heard Joker's loud surprised grunt from inside. Joker's head popped out form the roof of the car and he shook his head disapprovingly at Batman. "You're not – you're not playing very nice now," Joker said as he shook a single finger at Batman.

However, Batman ignored it and just rammed into the back of the car again. He watched Joker reached inside the car and pull Aidan out, along with a little grenade in his hand. Joker was just about to say something when Aidan suddenly climbed up on top of the car. Joker frowned for a moment before pulled the pin off the grenade and throwing it toward Batman.

Joker went to grab Aidan when she jumped forward and grabbed onto the grenade. Batman came to a quick stop just inches away from where Aidan stood. The seconds ticked by and both Joker and Batman watched Aidan with worried faces. Five seconds passed, then six, seven, eight, nine…

Nothing happened.

Aidan's hands shook violently as she kept a firm grip on the grenade. A small 'boom' was heard as light emitted through the cracks between her fingers. Joker's car also came to a quick stop but wasn't as close as Batman was. Aidan's slowly opened her hands to reveal the dusty remains of the grenade and her palms appeared perfectly fine.

Batman quickly jumped out from the 'tank' and rushed to Aidan's side. She looked up at him expectantly, her hands still together as they held the dust. Batman took careful steps toward her and placed an unsure hand on her shoulder.

"Hey – hey! I don't like to – to share!" Joker shouted as he neared Batman and Aidan.

Aidan turned to face Batman and walked toward him, resting her head against his chest. She dropped her hands, the dust falling slowly to he ground. "My head hurts," she whispered before falling limply against Batman, who easily caught her.

From the corner of his eye, Joker saw one of his goons lifting up their gun and he suddenly slashed the other man's throat, his body falling lifelessly to the ground. "_You might shoot her_!" he growled out. The other goons around him stepped away warily, their legs shaking slightly. Joker turned around to face Batman again but stomped his foot angrily when Batman was already starting to driving away. "Now you shoot!"

The bullets flew but none were able to penetrate the beast of a car. Batman rushed to his hideout but also took the long, winding way to make sure that if anyone was following him they would get lost. He had Aidan placed neatly in his lap, her head against his shoulder. Once he reached his not-so-little domain, he remained where he sat.

Aidan turned more toward Batman in her sleep, somehow finding his cool armour comforting. "I at least know one good thing about this situation," he said to himself out loud, "You stay calm when I'm near you,"

**End Chapter**

--

**Preview of the next chapter:**

_Bruce looked over the building again, his anger rising even more. All along the edges of that one side of the building had headless bodies stuck against it. Each body's head was held by its owner's hand for they were all tapped to each other. Written right on the building with what looked to be still wet blood read:  
_

_IT'S JUST YOU AND ME BAT-MAN. YOU TAKE AWAY MY NEW TOY AND I'LL JUST TAKE IT RIGHT BACK. ALONG WITH A FEW OTHER HEADS. OH WAIT... THAT ISN'T JUST YOU AND ME, IS IT?  
_


	4. Chapter Four

**A/N:** Hehe, I am so glad that there are many of you reading this story! You have no idea how excited I am! Anyway, I'll be talking a little about this chapter and the next. I am going to have more Batman and Joker conflicts in the next few chapters, this chapter leading on to their actual declaration of 'war' against each other. I am having a lot of fun writing Batman and Joker, though I think I might have started to make Batman a little mean-ish. I'm still at an inner battle with myself to see if I should pair Aidan with anyone and if I do I can't choose. It would seem so cute for either guy!

To Fuyu Tenshi: Thank you so much for the review, and I'm really glad you like my story. Don't worry, you're not the only one who thinks Joker is utterly adorable. I am just madly in love with that man. I just wanna snuggle him, despite him wanting to push or throw me away from him. I've been thinking up a few scenearios of how I could get Joker and Aidan come together, like have Aidan start to like the man and have Joker express it in some not-so-scary way. If you got any suggestions it would help :)

**Disclaimer:** I don't own them, any of them (except Aidan Jaxon and story plot) even though I dream I do.

Enjoy! **Note:** No preview of next chapter because they're connected, I had to divide them :P

**In the last chapter:**

The bullets flew but none were able to penetrate the beast of a car. Batman rushed to his hideout but also took the long, winding way to make sure that if anyone was following him they would get lost. He had Aidan placed neatly in his lap, her head against his shoulder. Once he reached his not-so-little domain, he remained where he sat.

Aidan turned more toward Batman in her sleep, somehow finding his cool armour comforting. "I at least know one good thing about this situation," he said to himself out loud, "You stay calm when I'm near you,"

**Chapter Four**

The sun hadn't begun to rise when Batman had brought Aidan back to the penthouse and changed back to being Bruce Wayne. He sat beside Aidan on the bed, just sitting there and watching her sleep. Bruce noticed that – after switching from one side to the other of the bed – Aidan would turn toward him, following his movements. She was curled up on her side and looked completely peaceful.

Bruce had called Lucius a while ago, to ask him a few questions about Aidan. _"Joker has no insight into Aidan's mind but she does to him, the only thing he could 'sense' is if she was near him or not,"_ Bruce remembered Lucius saying, easing his worry about being exposed.

"_Maybe it's because you're always so calm yourself,"_ Lucius said to Bruce through the phone, referring to his curiosity about why Aidan always calmed down or was calmer when he was near.

Bruce sighed at the same time Aidan did, making him smile a little. He got up and moved to the other side to see if she was still following him and sighed again when he saw her turn over. He looked over at the clock on the wall; almost midnight. He looked back at Aidan and walked beside the bed. Bruce sat down on the floor and leaned back against the bed as he stretched out his legs. He took one last glance at Aidan before letting himself drift off to sleep, or get as much of it as he could.

--

Bruce woke up to the bright light from the sun that burned through his eyelids. He yawned and stretched but stopped when he felt something soft underneath him. He looked down without moving his head and saw the familiar blanket he had on his bed. He turned over to his right and saw Aidan's back facing him, also underneath the blanket like him, but was close enough that they were touching. He sat up in bed and saw Alfred looking at him oddly. Bruce raised a single brow at Alfred but the other man just shrugged his shoulders; he was just as confused as Bruce was.

Bruce quickly, but carefully, got out from bed while secretly sighing in relief when he saw that his clothes were still on out of habit from being with so many other women and waking up the same way.

"Would you like some breakfast sir?" Alfred asked as Bruce came up to him, his face still shocked at waking up in bed beside Aidan.

"You saw that I was sleeping on the floor right?" Bruce was still confused at how he ended waking up like that. He frowned when Alfred nodded his head yes. "How did I…"

"I don't know sir," Alfred interjected, not wanting to know anymore. Both of them looked back at Aidan again when they heard her turning over on her other side.

"Do I have anything that I have to go to today Alfred?" Bruce quickly changed the subjected, looking away from Aidan but still pondering on how things happened between the time he went to sleep and the time he woke up.

"Good," Bruce looked away from Alfred as he started to think when he noticed how early it was in the morning. "We're going to need some more clothes for her," he said with a far away voice, his eyes now distant in thought. He started to walk away without another word, leaving Alfred there to wait until Aidan woke up.

He headed over to his study and shut the door softly behind him. Bruce walked leisurely toward the chair behind his desk and sat down – or more like fell down – with a soft 'thud'. He turned toward the large glass walls and leaned back in his seat as he gazed out through the glass. "My main problem is to keep Joker away," he thought out loud. "My other problem is that if I leave her side she might lose her mind again,"

Bruce leaned more into the chair and started to think of how he could solver either one or both of his new problems. "This isn't going to be easy,"

--

Joker threw daggers at a large picture of Batman. His once 'full of life' face was now bored with a large frown instead of a smile. He threw the daggers with very little enthusiasm, not even caring if it hit the picture or not anymore. "Batman ruins everything," he whined loudly, pouting his lips sadly. "I can't even destroy anything, not even – not even a building without him being there to take away my fun,"

Suddenly his face lit up and that familiar smile returned to his face.

--

"Sir, I think you should see this," Alfred said, not even bothering to knock on the door.

Bruce left the room, staring at Aidan on the bed to check if she was still sleeping, and followed Alfred quietly to the living room. He reached over and un-muted the TV and quickly turning down the volume so it wouldn't wake Aidan up.

"_We come to you live from downtown Gotham to show you this horrific sight that we presume to be from the 'Joker'_," came the reporter's voice. Bruce leaned in closer out of reflex as he waited to see what was so important that Alfred just had to show him. The camera turned away from the reporter and zoomed out enough so that the whole building behind the report could be seen. Bruce's eyes narrowed and an angry frown appeared on his face.

"_It seems that the 'Joker' has apparently declared war against Batman…_"

Bruce looked over the building again, his anger rising even more. All along the edges of that one side of the building had headless bodies stuck against it. Each body's head was held by its owner's hand for they were all tapped to each other. Written right on the building with what looked to be still wet blood read:

IT'S JUST YOU AND ME BAT-MAN. YOU TAKE AWAY MY NEW TOY AND I'LL JUST TAKE IT RIGHT BACK. ALONG WITH A FEW OTHER HEADS. OH WAIT… THAT ISN'T JUST YOU AND ME, IS IT?

Bruce's hands clenched into tight fists, his knuckles turning white becoming a regular thing for him. "He's gone on a killing spree again,"

"What will you do sir?" Alfred asked with caring but worried words.

"I can't just give her to him…" Bruce shut off the television and leaned back in his seat despite him being so tense. "This just made things even more complicated,"

Just then Aidan began to stir from the realm of dreams and groggily pushed herself up into a sitting position. Bruce quickly walked over and sat beside her on the bed. Aidan held her head in her hands as she tried to ease the throbbing headache she was having at the moment. "Uhn…"

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked her with genuine concern, his hand resting on her shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Uhnn…" Aidan repeated, shaking her head softly.

"Do you remember who I am?" Bruce didn't really like her one-syllable noise responses.

Aidan nodded her head numbly before letting go of her head and looking up at Bruce with tired eyes.

"Do you think you can try and decode some of Joker's thoughts?" Bruce winced when Aidan shouted 'no' loudly into his ear. He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her close, practically shoving her face against his chest. The girl immediately calmed down, relaxing in Bruce's arms. "Can do you me another favour then?"

"Nhnn…" came her muffled reply.

"Answer me with words please," Bruce demanded, slightly annoyed with how Aidan was responding to him right now.

"It would depend on what that favour is,"

"Could you stay here and out of trouble? Even if you get really bored and want to pull your hair out because there's nothing to do, could you just stay here?"

"Off to your bat cave?" Aidan asked with a bitter tone in her voice.

Bruce sighed and pushed Aidan so he could look her in the eyes, his hands stilling holding onto her shoulders. "What's with the hostility?"

Aidan grabbed onto one of Bruce's hands and placed it against the side of her face, sighing, as she looked him in the eyes. "Sorry, that hostile-sarcasm was from…" she let the rest of her sentence drift away as she stared at Bruce with sad eyes. "I won't go anywhere,"

Bruce reluctantly pulled away from Aidan and started to head to the elevator. He nodded to Alfred before the doors closed behind him as he got inside the elevator. Bruce fixed his suit, remembering just then that he hadn't changed out from the ones he had on yesterday. He smiled at the few guards standing around, not wanting to see their faces when they saw he was wearing the same suit, and quickly made his way to the parking lot.

As always, Bruce walked into the empty parking lot and took quick strides toward his car of the month: a slick, black Pontiac solstice. He slipped into the driver's seat with ease and pulled out of the parking lot without much trouble. He drove off, of course going off the speed limit, and rushed toward what Aidan kept referring to as his 'bat cave'.

He went through the motions like always: change into the _other_ suit and gear up to go in his 'tank'. Batman zoomed toward the building he saw on the news and just like as he saw it, there were headless bodies everywhere and some were even along the floor.

Batman passed by the crowd easily since they all moved to the side, half from respect and adoration with the other half from fear and obligation of duty. He jumped onto the cement floor and started to walk toward the building for a closer examination. He noticed many of the officers standing back and watching him, unsure of what should they do. He knew they wanted to take him in but they didn't want to because they didn't want to deal with Joker.

He decided to ignore them and then looked up at the side of the building. He saw that the blood was still wet and because of that the message was gone as the blood slid to the ground. The smell was strong and almost metallic but it didn't seem to bother him at all. Batman bent down and poked at the pool of blood with two fingers. He started to look around to see if there were anything else, clues or anything, that would help him to find Joker.

Batman knew that Joker wouldn't stay in the same place he had found him so he needed something to start off from. He looked up then and saw something sparkle in one of the dead bodies' hand. As much as he didn't want to, Batman threw one of his bat-shaped daggers at the rope holding the body up and stepped back as it fell to the ground.

Many of the people in the crowd shouted in surprise and a few looked a bit disturbed at what Batman had just done. Batman ignored their gasps and bent down to grab the object that caught his interest. In his hands he held a small, old looking clown doll with a tiny dagger in its hands. Batman frowned as he stared into the small clown's plastic eyes. "I see you trying to get me to come to you through some help,"

"Oh, far from it _Bat_-man," came Joker's voice.

Batman glared at the small clown for that was where the voice had come from.

"I just wanted to – to call so just uhm, so just relax there for a bit buddy," Joker's eerie laughter could be heard on the other end. Batman would have so gladly just squeezed the stuffing out of the small clown he held but restrained himself to hear what Joker had to say, out of curiosity.

"I want – I want my toy back," Joker's laughter ceased and he sounded almost serious when he spoke. His frequent stuttering not really helping his speech.

"She's not a toy Joker," Batman retorted.

"She isn't? Oh, but – but she is!" Joker retorted back, laughing even harder than before. "_Don't ruin my fun_!" came Joker's sudden deep half roar half growl.

Then the sound of a click was heard and Batman no longer heard any more words from the Joker. Batman once again felt the need to squeeze the stuffing out from the small clown doll but held himself back. He rushed back to his large vehicle and zoomed back to the headquarters. He held the doll securely within his hand as he rushed toward his equipment.

"Could use this to track him," he mused to himself out loud. Suddenly his communicator that was connected to home started to beep loudly. Batman reached over and pressed the small button, "What?"

"I think you should turn to the news again sir," came Alfred's worried voice from the other side.

Batman switched on the screens and quickly made it to the news channel. He frowned when he saw Joker's face on the screen.

"_Hello people of Gotham! This – this is a live broadcasting!_" He danced and skipped around with the camera, making the screen seem a bit shaky, as he twirled around the dark room. "_All you oth – other people can just uh… can just turn off your TV's 'cause this is just for Batman so… Buzz off!_" Joker roared out the last bit, his smile breaking for just a moment. "_But I'm sure you're all very naughty boys and girls and… and are still watching right now,_"

"What is he up to?" Batman asked himself out loud, becoming slightly impatient as he waited for Joker to get to the point.

"_I bet – I bet you're wondering what my point is, hm?_" Joker blinked his eyes like he had a twitch and licked his lips repeatedly for a bit, staring right into the camera. "_Well, I – I think that… the whole reasoning behind… behind a good joke… is that… is that it shouldn't have to be explained!_" The camera in Joker's hand began to shake as he laughed uncontrollably, the eerie laughter sending chills down the spines of anyone watching.

Joker started to turn the camera around so that he was now behind him but not much could be seen in the dark room. One could tell that the Joker was moving around from the camera shaking up and down for a while. He didn't seem to want to say anything else as he walked around. The sound of a door being opened was heard and then followed by the sound of it being closed. Then the sound of muffled cries and sobs were soon heard, making Batman fist his hands.

"_Can somebody turn on the lights please?_" came Joker's calm voice, or as calm as the Joker can be.

The lights flickered on but the camera quickly swung around to show Joker's face again. He gave the camera a large smile, letting the camera linger there for a while, before turning it back around to reveal several people in the centre of the room. "_I know – I know, it's a little low and not really my thing but since you've got something of mine then – then I'll have something of yours,_"

There in the centre of the room, tied up and gagged was Commissioner Gordon and the rest of his family. They all looked up at the camera, begging to be saved through their eyes. "_Now, I wouldn't want to disappoint the poor Commissioner and his family if I were you. You wouldn't want to uh… hurt the poor guy's feelings by not saving him! You _have_ to save _every_one, don't you?_"

Suddenly the screen went black and it was the end of the Joker's message. Batman turned and moved away from the desk before he could slam his fist against it, not wanting to risk hitting anything there and damaging it. He went back to the communicator and pressed on the button with doing it hard enough to make the button stuck. "Alfred, did Aidan watch it?"

"I'm afraid so sir,"

"Is she still there?"

"She right…"

Alfred's voice disappeared and Batman's worry began to rise. He waited for a few seconds, as patiently as he could. After a few more seconds, he couldn't wait anymore and shouted out Alfred's name.

"I'm sorry sir," came Alfred's shaky voice, "She was right here…"

Batman moved away from the communicator and turned back to the small clown doll. He picked up a small device and started to fiddle with it, his eyes going back and forth from the clown to the device again and again as he fiddled with the device. As soon as the device would make a loud beeping noise when he would move it close to the clown doll he dropped the clown, device still in hand, and headed out.

--

"Tick-tock, tick-tock," Joker tapped a finger against Commissioner Gordon's head, loving the sound Gordon made whenever it would hit his finger against it. He smiled at Gordon when he glared at him angrily, trying to shout at him despite the gag in his mouth. "Tick-tock, tick-tock," Joker repeated, still smiling as Gordon still tried to shout things out at him. "I'm sorry? I can't really hear you because you've got uh… got something in your mouth,"

Joker leaned his ear close to Gordon's mouth, pretending to try and understand him. Gordon went to try and head butt him but Joker pulled away fast, shaking his finger at Gordon. "Tut, tut, tut; you should never try to get your host angry or else they might go for the other uh… guests," Joker's smiled widened at Gordon before turning his attention to Gordon's wife who sat beside him. Beside her were their young son and daughter, curling away from Joker and toward their mother.

Gordon finally managed to spit the tight gag around his mouth, taking in a deep breath when he did. "Stay away from her!" he shouted protectively, glaring daggers at Joker who only smiled back at him.

"You know… it is so funny how one tiny, little, minuscule man can – can have so much power with the right leverage," Joker stepped closer to Gordon's wife, placing his thumb and forefinger at her chin and lifting her face up to look at him. "I wonder how far the Commissioner here would swallow his pride just to see his precious little woman out of my hands, don't you?" he said to her, grinning when she tried to look away.

Joker jumped away from the woman, his face lighting up like a child who was given permission to do anything he wanted. "Let's have a fun little game while we wait!" he suggested, clapping his hands eagerly. "I am going to… separate! I am going to separate you from your family," Joker gestured with his hand for his goons to take the other three into different rooms. "Then… I will place a bomb in each room and a bomb at the locked door," He glared at one of the goons who was still in the room with him and the man immediately left.

"_You_, Commissioner, will be given only three bullets and faced with six doors and the bombs are paired up… The wrong door has a bomb but the right room has a bomb so… if you get the wrong door then it will cause the right room to go boom!" Joker clapped his hands as an effect and laughed excitedly. "If you get the right room then… you have sixty seconds to get in, get the bomb off of them without making it explode, and get out,"

Joker pulled out a small revolver and opened it up to place three bullets inside. He smiled at Gordon before throwing the gun in front of him. "I could just shoot you," Gordon pointed out, glaring at Joker as one of the goons untied him.

"You _could_ but you shouldn't," Joker reached into his pocket and pulled out a detonator, "Only because I got this fancy little thing here that – that could just blow up your whole family,"

Gordon picked up the gun and stood up to his feet. He stared at Joker in the eyes and stole a glance at the detonator in Joker's hands.

"Come on, tick-tock Commissioner!" Joker stepped aside and let Gordon walk out of the room. As soon as Gordon was out of the room Joker rushed over to the door at the side and opened it to reveal several television screens. He sat himself in front of them and watched excitedly as Gordon was lead into the round room with six doors. "Where's popcorn when you need it?" Joker mumbled to himself.

--

Batman drove through the streets and held the device tightly in his hands. Every now and then the device would beep but they were low and very spaced out between each beep. Meanwhile, he kept a watchful eye out just in case he might see Aidan walking about on the streets even though he highly doubted that himself.

It had been minutes since he started to look but the minutes seemed to be like hours as they passed him by.

Suddenly, the device started to beep and they were much closer than before. He increased his speed and listened closely to the sound. The beeps became closer and closer and Batman noticed that he was reached the 'old' part of Gotham City. The place that was once large factories that shot out black smoke from their wide chimneys. This area of the City was basically left alone as the City became more technologically advanced, having no need for 'human hands' anymore.

The device was now beeping rapidly until it sounded like one long beep. Batman looked up and smiled ironically to himself when he saw the large sign that indicated that he was standing right in front of an old toy factory. "Mhm," he grunted, a little annoyed at himself for not thinking of this place before.

He walked with silent steps toward the building, not even bothering to find some way to sneak in. Batman swung the front doors open and was greeted with the dark and nothing else. Suddenly he heard a noise behind him and spun around. "Aidan!" he said in a shouted whisper. He rushed to her and grabbed onto her arms. "I thought I told you to stay put!"

"But!" Aidan protested, looking up into Batman's dark eyes, "But!"

Batman turned around and started to walk. He kept one hand holding tightly onto Aidan's arm and kept her behind him, hoping no one would see her. He took a glance back and noticed she hadn't changed out from her dress. "Stay quiet," he ordered her.

"I didn't come here willingly you know," Aidan whispered, edging closer to Batman's back and clutching onto his cape. "He kept calling, I _had_ to come,"

"You didn't _have_ to do anything," Batman shot back, his grip on her tightening in anger.

"You have no idea how much it hurts, trying to block him out," Aidan explained, coming as close as she could to Batman without having them trip over the other's feet.

"_Be quiet,_" Batman bit out harshly to her and Aidan immediately ceased any other thoughts of speaking. He wanted to just leave her back there, but he knew that someone would have found her or she would have not listened to him again and would walk about and then be caught. So Batman kept his grip on her arm firm, not really realizing that his grip was almost bruising.

Suddenly, that all too familiar laugh started to echo and bounce off the walls. Batman stopped walking, making Aidan bump into his back, and glared at the spot in front of him. Joker sat, looking very relaxed with his one leg over the armrest and his back leaning against the other armrest. "You're finally here! And you didn't miss a thing!"

"Miss what?" Batman inquired.

Joker pressed a button beside him and several television screens turned on behind him, showing images of several doors and Gordon standing square in the centre of it all. "He hadn't done anything at all! He just – just stands there… very boring," Joker waved his hand not caring about it anymore and pressing the button again, turning off the television screens.

"So," Joker started, smiling at Batman, "I see you've brought a present for me,"

_To be continued…_

**End Chapter**


	5. Chapter Five

**A/N:** Hi again! I would like to say that I am even more happy to see that _more_ have started to read the story and seem to be very please with it. I'll admit, I sort of rushed with this chapter and it might not be as well as the others might seem, and it's obviously shorter but - I don't know. Hopefully you guys like this chapter too :)

To Edwardo's-heir: Glad you think I did an awesome job

To themethmatician: I am really, really happy that you like my story that much - you have no idea how happy! I will try to fix up those little grammar mistakes but I doubt the chapters will be grammar error proof. To be honest, I just give it a quick read _after_ I update ;; But, I will try :D

To AutomaticLove: Hehe, I'm glad you think that way about the characters. I try ;;

**Disclaimer:** Every time I say this it makes me cry. I don't own Batman and everything related to him! cries

Enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

Joker pressed a button beside him and several television screens turned on behind him, showing images of several doors and Gordon standing square in the centre of it all. "He hadn't done anything at all! He just – just stands there… very boring," Joker waved his hand not caring about it anymore and pressing the button again, turning off the television screens.

"So," Joker started, smiling at Batman, "I see you've brought a present for me,"

_To be continued…_

**Chapter Five**

"Come on out beautiful," Joker beckoned, completely ignoring Batman's irritated face.

Batman's hold on Aidan's arm tightened but the young woman still managed to take a peek at Joker from over Batman's shoulder, having to go on her toes. Batman quickly pulled her back down to her heels and held her there. "Let Gordon go Joker, he hasn't done anything," Batman demanded angrily.

"But he hasn't finished the game," Joker covered his mouth as he gasped, looking almost appalled that Batman had just suggested something like that. "You can't just – just stop a game!" Joker hopped off of his chair and dusted himself off, patting his backside and arching his back before shaking his body and then standing up straight.

Aidan suddenly waved her hand and a translucent purple dome appeared around her and Batman. Joker frowned as he walked up to the dome and knocked on it several times. "Tut, tut, tut; very naughty girl you are," Joker said. He began to circle the two of them, tapping his knuckles against the dome as he did. "I just want to play… Can't I play?"

"Leave Gordon and his family out of this," Batman demanded again just as Joker came around to stand in front of him once more. "They've done nothing,"

"Come on beautiful," Joker walked back around so he could get a better look at Aidan. Batman turned them around so that he was facing Joker again, making Joker scowl. "Aidan," Joker said nicely, licking his lips, "_Take this down right now_!" he snarled.

Aidan's hand shot up to her head and flinched when she heard Joker's feral snarl. "_Now_!" Joker shouted again.

Batman relaxed his hold on Aidan's arm and turned around to face her. "Don't listen to him, keep calm," he told her, finally being gentle as he held her.

"I can't… my head… I'm sorry…" Aidan fell limply against Batman's chest just as the dome disappeared around them. Batman turned around and jumped out of the way in time to dodge the dagger Joker tried to jab him with. He ran over toward the wall and pulled out his grappling hook, shooting it upward and zooming up to the beams with an arm wrapped around Aidan.

Joker started to grumble angrily and stalked off somewhere in the shadows. He came back moments later with a large machine gun gripped tightly in his hands and started to fire at Batman. Joker knew that Batman would obviously take all the hits through his armour, so he didn't mind shooting at him with rapid fire. "You really are a very annoying flying rodent,"

Batman hopped from steel beam to steel beam while trying to keep Aidan from falling out of his arms. "How about we settle this one on one Joker?" He suggested just as he hopped over onto another steel beam.

"Oh! I may be a maniac _and_ a lunatic but I'm – I'm not stupid!" Joker said as he continued to fire the machine gun. "_Come down_! You know… you're being very, very cowardly right now,"

Batman ignored Joker's try at fooling around with his head. He felt Aidan begin to sit in his arms and he quickly stopped behind a large air vent and leaned against it. Through hard training, Batman didn't flinch once when the bullet flew by him with one even almost skinning his cheek. He waited very impatiently for Aidan to open her eyes, pulling her closer when Joker continued to fire his gun at him. "Aidan?"

Aidan suddenly grabbed onto Batman's hand and pulled the glove off, holding his bare hand firmly in hers. "Don't let go," she whispered before peering around the air vent, showing her face to Joker.

Joker dropped the hefty machine gun and opened his arms wide, almost like he was expecting Aidan to come running into his arms. "Finally!" he breathed out a sigh of relief. "I thought bat-head was going lock you up and throw away the key!"

Aidan ignored him and waved her other hand again, the same translucent purple dome going around her and Batman except it was a sphere this time. She turned back to Batman and he wrapped an arm around her before jumping to the ground.

Joker's eyes narrowed when he caught sight of Aidan and Batman holding hands but quickly dismissed it. "What now, beautiful?"

"You go help Gordon, I can keep him here," Aidan ordered. She slowly let go of Batman's hand, handing him his glove back. Batman glared at her for ordering him to do something but Aidan just glared back at him.

"Don't order me around," Batman gritted his teeth but eventually ran off to find Gordon and his family.

Aidan turned back to Joker, waved her hand, and the dome had moved from around her to go around Joker. She pulled up her dress just a little so it would make it easier to walk as she neared closer to the dome.

Joker smirked at her, also walking toward the edge of the dome. The two of them walked toward each other until they were just mere inches apart, the thin but strong translucent wall the only thing between them. "Miss me yet, beautiful?"

"No," Aidan replied quickly, trying hard not to cringe whenever Joker spoke and as he stared at her.

"I see you like being the one in charge," Joker reached up to touch Aidan's face but forgot that the wall was there, his hand sliding down against it, "I'll remember that next time,"

Aidan flinched suddenly and her hand went up to her head but she kept her eyes glued on Joker. She noticed then how much smaller she was from him then, never really getting the chance to stand beside him since they were mostly… Aidan shook her head roughly as she tried to get rid of the images that were appearing in her mind.

"There – there she is," Joker leaned his head against the wall, his face getting as close as it could get to Aidan's. He watched with a large grin and followed Aidan as she slowly slid down to the ground. Aidan leaned her side against the wall and Joker mimicked her, sitting against the wall and facing her. He pulled out one of his many daggers that only God knows where he hides them all and started to throw it from hand to hand. "How's your uhm… how's your head?"

"Stop it! Why can't you just leave me _alone_!?" Aidan shouted at him, her eyes beginning to tear up. She slumped more against the translucent wall and was now clutching her head with both hands.

Joker looked appalled, shocked, and feigned the look of being hurt. He stopped throwing the dagger around and slapped a hand against his chest, staring at Aidan with his eyes wide and mouth agape. "But – but I _like_ you!"

"People don't _hurt_ people they like on _purpose_ like this!" Aidan cried out.

"Well, I'm not uh… I'm not exactly the chocolate and roses kind of – kind of guy," Joker went to reach out to Aidan again, forgetting once more that there was a wall between them, and just ended up banging his hand against the wall.

Just then, the dome disappeared and Joker turned to Aidan just in time to catch her as she fell toward the ground. He pulled her close to his chest, cradling her there. Joker's head shot up and turned around to see Batman, Gordon, and the rest of his family emerging from the large doors near there. Joker titled his head to the side, something a few children do when they see something confusing, odd, or something they don't understand. "Uhm… shield?"

Instantly the dome shield was up and around him again. Joker stuck his tongue out at Batman, even going as far as to shout: na-na nana na!

Batman signaled for Gordon and his family to get out before focusing his attention on Joker. "What did you do?" he growled out, unsure if he should step closer or not.

"I – I didn't do anything! I am – I am an innocent man!" Joker laughed uncontrollably as he started to image himself differently than he was, quickly thinking it would be completely absurd. He stood up, lifting Aidan up within his arms bridal style. Joker looked like he picked her up with ease but one could tell that he was having trouble when he moved her around until he was comfortable.

"Leave her alone Joker,"

"I think you're the one who – who better leave," Joker shifted his arms so that he could hold Aidan with one arm and quickly pulled out a remote control from his pocket. "You wouldn't think that I would just leave a building uhm… _intact_?"

Batman stared at the remote in Joker's hand but was unsure of what to do. He didn't want to just run and leave Aidan there, but he also did want to be found the next morning by Alfred in pieces.

"Tick-tock bat-face,"

"I'll get her back," Batman promised.

"So then this is war," Joker promised as well.

Batman kicked himself mentally before dashing out through the doors. He slipped into his black tank and sped off as fast as he could before he decided to go back in. After a few seconds he heard the loud explosions of the bombs. Ever since he left the building, all he could think of what if Aidan was all right.

--

Joker sat beside the old looking mattress on the cement floor, tapping his fingers against the ground impatiently. He stared at Aidan's slumbering face with one hand behind him, holding onto something. He sat cross-legged and twitched every now and then. The mattress he had Aidan on was much larger than the last one and he liked it more only because it was 'bouncier'.

He started to rock back and forth, slowly becoming unable to wait for Aidan to stir from her sleeping state. "Wake up!" he half shouted, frowning when Aidan didn't even budge. Joker fell forward, his face landing on the spot beside Aidan's head, and rolled over onto his side to face her. "This is really… really no fun at all,"

Just as Joker was about to give up and go Aidan turned over in her sleep. He froze on the spot, getting curious to see if she was still sleeping or was she starting to wake up. Aidan had turned over on her side and was now facing Joker. His mouth was in the shape of an 'o' as he watched and waited, suddenly having a lot more patience.

"B-"

It was very short and quick, but Joker still heard it come out from Aidan's lips. His blood suddenly began to boil, his teeth grinding together as he stared at Aidan's serene face as she slept. Joker threw whatever he had to the side and jumped on top of Aidan, his knees on either side of her thighs and his hands beside her face. "_Wake up_!" he growled loudly, his loud voice echoing in the room.

Aidan woke up from the sudden shake she felt and also from the loud roar she heard. She opened her eyes to see Joker right above her with eyes blazing angrily with fire. "Who is it?!" she heard him yell at her, "Who _is_ it?!"

"Who's what?!" she shouted back at him, more confused than she was afraid.

"It's _him_, isn't it? It's _Batman_! I knew that goody-two-shoes wasn't so _good_!" Joker barked, practically biting Aidan's head off in anger. "You don't like me because of him, right? _Right_? Oh – oh he's really gonna get it!"

"I wouldn't like you if you were the one and only other person on earth!"

A loud smack followed and echoed in the room, the noise sounding more like a softened thunder strike.

Aidan's face was in shock, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped slightly. She lay still and her chest rose and fell from her heavy breathing as she tried to stay calm. There was a burning feeling against her cheek that soon followed and she fell into even more shock.

Joker had sat back in surprise seconds after his hand impacted against Aidan's face. His face had the same look of shock as Aidan's, if not more. "I – I didn't do that… I didn't do that…" he whispered repeatedly, looking at his hand as if he were accusing it for hitting Aidan. He scrambled off of Aidan and quickly went to retrieve the object he had throw so carelessly to the side. In his hands was a small, shiny red box that had nothing written on it.

He ran back to Aidan, kneeling beside her and noticing how she turned her head away from his direction. "L – Look!" Joker shoved the box in front of Aidan's eyes, shaking it a bit to get her attention. "I kind of uh… ate some,"

"A box of chocolates…" Aidan mumbled. She could faintly smell the sweet scent of chocolates escape from the box and waft up her nose. She looked at Joker from the corner of her for a second then looked back to the box of chocolates. "I _still_ don't like you,"

Joker placed the box aside and moved so that he was hovering over Aidan again. He placed his forehead against her shoulder and placed a soft, quick kiss against her collarbone. His white face make-up rubbed off and was now on Aidan, much to her dislike.

Aidan tried to squirm away from Joker but he quickly grabbed onto her hands and held her above her head with one hand, much like the first time. His other hand snaked its way down and held her still at the waist. "Like me now?" Joker asked her in a low husky voice, which caught Aidan off guard.

**Warning! Holy smokes, warning! Douse the fire! Warning! Though, you **_**might**_** want to read it 'cause it's just a **_**little**_** important… it's not that bad… Warning!**

"No," Aidan said quickly, preparing herself to block out whatever Joker was doing – just like the first time. However, Joker caught Aidan off guard yet again. The hand that was at her waist slowly moved up her body, letting his fingers graze against her body through the thing fabric of her dress. Joker unbuttoned her jacket slowly as he placed more kisses around her shoulder and neck.

"Like me now?" Joker asked her again just as he cupped her left breast in his hand.

Aidan couldn't reply, having bitten her lip, when Joker started to gently massage her breast with a cold hand. Aidan tried to squirm away from Joker again but he held her there firmly. She secretly prayed that Joker would just be rough with her again to just get things over with instead of being so oddly gentle.

Joker licked at a small spot on Aidan's neck before sucking on it softly. His other hand left her breast to shove the fabric to the side only to continue to massage her breast again. Aidan inhaled sharply when his cold hand touched her skin that was slowly heating up. "Like me now?" Joker asked again.

"No!" Aidan quickly shot back at him, her resistance suddenly strengthening. Joker pulled away from her neck and quickly pressed his lips against hers. She gave out a muffled scream when Joker squeezed her breast suddenly before moving to the other one. She started to lift her leg up to kick him but Joker quickly sat back against her thighs.

Joker pulled his mouth away from hers and let go of her mouth to reach for something in his jacket. He pulled out the same dagger from earlier, a smile on his face and a look of terror on Aidan's. Aidan looked at him with wide eyes and Joker shook his head at her. "Shame," he whispered to her.

However, the dagger wasn't for what Aidan had assumed it to be for. Joker cut her dress up a bit and pulled it right off her. He threw the dagger off to the side, away from the bed, and snatched up a long piece of fabric. Joker brought the piece up to Aidan's wrists and started to tie them together. "Much better," he muttered out loud, smiling down at Aidan once he was finished.

Joker quickly set to work with his own clothes, taking them off and throwing them far away, before bringing Aidan's arms around his torso so she wouldn't try hitting him with her fists.

Aidan gasped when she looked at Joker's chest, feeling a little prick of guilt in the back of her mind. She must have not noticed before because she had shut her eyes for the most part but now she could see it all. All across Joker's chest were scars. Some were thick and poking out while some looked smooth, almost silky, to the touch. Her eyes traced each one carefully, feeling more guilt and sympathy weighing down on her shoulders as she did.

Joker watched curiously as Aidan's eyes roamed over his chest. He took that chance to reach down and lift Aidan's thighs from beneath him and settled in between her legs. "Want to know where my scars came from?" he asked her suddenly, snapping Aidan out from her trance-like state. Joker bent down and started to kiss her along her shoulder and neck again, one arm moving around Aidan to go behind her shoulders.

"I already know," Aidan whispered to him, her voice sounding a little sad.

Joker frowned against her skin. "That's – that's not fun," he said before placing more kisses against her skin, slowly moving up until he found her lips. Joker was half surprised when Aidan wasn't resistance him as much anymore, but wasn't about to ruin his luck and point it out. He reached down with his other hand, unbuckled and unzipped his pants and kicked them off hurriedly. "Like me now?" Joker couldn't help it; he just had to ask her again.

**And its over!**

--

Bruce paced around in his penthouse. He had been pacing for a couple of hours now and it was beginning to bother Alfred. Bruce's old friend had tried to calm him down but Bruce just wouldn't stay still.

"Bruce," Alfred said, pointing at the clock on the wall, "You have a charity function you must attend,"

"Can't they do things without me?" Bruce blurted out.

"Excuse sir?"

"Nothing, it's nothing," Bruce walked away and started to head over to the helipad outside. He glanced at the time, an hour before seven in the evening, when the 'function' was to start. "Could you call Erica and Michelle for me, Alfred?" Bruce hollered over his shoulder, "Tell them it's the helicopter again…"

"Right away sir," Alfred nodded his head and made his way to the phone. He looked back at Bruce, wondering why the young man was acting so strangely. He quickly dialed the numbers Bruce had told him to, telling the women that Bruce would be on his way shortly.

Right then the sound of the helicopter could be heard coming toward Bruce's penthouse. The young playboy didn't even wait for the helicopter to land as he rushed toward it and jumped inside. "You need to be carefully sir!" the pilot shouted at Bruce over the roaring of the blades above.

"Just hurry and go!" Bruce shouted back as he settled into his seat.

The helicopter pilot shrugged his shoulders and flew off. Bruce quickly mentioned for him to pick up a couple of people and the pilot instantly knew who it was. The pick-ups went by fast enough, but Bruce's mind was still very clouded. Erica, the young German woman, and Michelle, the Australian, poked at Bruce's chest after they noticed that he hadn't been paying attention to them.

"Bruce!" Erica whined, Michelle feeling the same way.

"I'm sorry ladies, I just had a lot of things on my mind," Bruce smiled to the two women and wrapped an arm around either one of them. Once he was satisfied that they weren't going to poke him again Bruce went back to thinking, his eyes having a far away look.

"Are you _in love_, Mister Wayne?" Michelle suddenly asked, finally gaining Bruce's attention without having to poke him.

"And the ones that I'm in love with are in my arms right now," Bruce smiled again, pulling them a bit closer but was stopped when both moved away from him. "What?"

"You have that look that a man has whenever he's thinking deeply about a certain someone," Michelle continued, frowning at Bruce.

"I could be thinking about Alfred for all you know," Bruce pointed out blankly, staring from Erica and Michelle back and forth.

Both Erica and Michelle shook their heads at him. "Don't tell us it was that _woman_ from last time," Erica whined again, making Bruce want to ask "Would you like some cheese with that whine?" but stopped himself.

"She isn't even worthy enough to be called a _woman_," Michelle argued with Erica, forgetting about Bruce for a bit. "She's more like a tom-boyish little girl,"

"Hey!" Bruce interjected loudly, causing the women to jump back in surprise. "Aidan is a very beautiful young woman, she's smart and she can hold her own when she has to!"

Michelle and Erica looked at each other and then turned to Bruce with an accusing stare. "See?" Michelle started, "You _are_ in love," Erica finished.

"Now, why would I be in love with Aidan? I was just sticking up for her!"

"Don't ask us," Erica turned her head away from Bruce, crossing her arms over her chest angrily.

"You're the one who seems to be so interested in her," and Michelle did the same as Erica.

Bruce looked from either woman, unsure of what to do or how she should handle the situation, before sighing in defeat. He leaned back against the leather seat and started to think about what the two women beside him were suggesting. He secretly agreed that Aidan was a good looking young woman and she seemed to be pretty smart, and also clearly showed that she wasn't _that_ afraid of Joker to stand up to him back at the old toy plant.

However, he was debating whether or not he did have feelings for that young woman. It would have easily explained why he was so worried about her but he being worried could also explain that Joker might use her powers against the city and kill a lot of people… Bruce frowned and narrowed his eyes at nothing in particular. "I don't _love_ her…" he accidentally said out loud, "I don't _think_ I do…"

He then remembered the short exchange of words he and Joker shared before he left to run from the explosion. "_So then this is war_," he remembered Joker saying to him as a reply to getting Aidan back. Bruce was almost afraid that Joker might have meant those words. He glanced out the window of the helicopter, staring down at the city below.

The streetlights were just turning on and there were still many cars driving on the roads. He looked up, the faint sunlight glittering along the glass of the buildings, and stared out into the horizon. Bruce – no, Batman would try his hardest to stop anything from happening to this city however…

Bruce's thoughts went back to Aidan, wondering why he was so interested in the young woman. _This is war then_, he thought, _and I'm going to make sure you don't win_.

**End Chapter**


	6. Chapter Six

**A/N:** I'm not going to say much here because I want to talk about the chapter without giving it away. So expect another note at the bottom :)

To themethmatician:I like that idea a little, but I'm still not so sure. I was going to have a little more Batman and Joker fights before anything that romantic really happens. You know what some say, love takes time :P And I am totally in love with your reviews, makes me smile and giggle when I read them. Also makes me want to continue with the story knowing I have at least a few people who like it that much. So I say to you, thank you for reading! :D

To Fuyu Tenshi: Unfortunately, the images you gave weren't working and I really wanted to see them too. As for your proposal to making a little 'side story' to mine to have a woman for Joker, I wouldn't mind it as long as I help with it a little. I'm sad to admit this but I am a little territorial to my stories since I get to become so attached ;; Hopefully that didn't sound to mean or anything, I really would love to see how you would write it out.

**In the last chapter:**

He then remembered the short exchange of words he and Joker shared before he left to run from the explosion. "So then this is war," he remembered Joker saying to him as a reply to getting Aidan back. Bruce was almost afraid that Joker might have meant those words. He glanced out the window of the helicopter, staring down at the city below.

The streetlights were just turning on and there were still many cars driving on the roads. He looked up, the faint sunlight glittering along the glass of the buildings, and stared out into the horizon. Bruce – no, Batman would try his hardest to stop anything from happening to this city however…

Bruce's thoughts went back to Aidan, wondering why he was so interested in the young woman. This is war then, he thought, and I'm going to make sure you don't win.

**Chapter Six**

Aidan woke up slowly, groaning tiredly as the memories started to reappear in her head. She faintly started to register in her head that something sort of warm was pressed up against her back. She tried to turn around to see what – or who – it was but two strong arms stopped her from moving. Then she remembered Joker was the last person she saw before falling asleep.

"I want to go outside," she demanded.

"Hm… no,"

"I want to stand up," Aidan demanded again, her voice more firm.

"Hm… no,"

"I want to turn around," Aidan unknowingly held her breath as she waited for his answer.

"Hm… yes,"

"_God_!" Aidan shouted in frustration. "You're disgusting!"

Joker moved her around in his arms so that she was no facing him. Aidan gasped when she saw that Joker's make up was gone, having never seen him like this before. To her he looked almost normal, despite the scars that poked out from his face. "I'm just doing what every young, healthy male should do to _keep_ healthy,"

Aidan rolled her eyes and noticed how strangely comfortable she was getting with Joker. She pushed against him slightly; surprised he didn't resist, and placed her open palm against his chest. She started to trace her finger long the scars there, staring at Joker curiously when he giggled a little. "That tickles – go on," he encouraged, nodding his head excitedly at her.

Aidan stopped tracing her finger along Joker's scars and stared him right in the eyes. She shifted around a bit, trying to get comfortable in Joker's arms while keeping a good distance between them. Suddenly Aidan remember she was still naked and her arms quickly went up to cover her breasts, making Joker laugh at her for a bit, and her cheeks turning a deep shade of red.

Joker pulled her closer before he started to pat around behind Aidan, looking for something and grunting as he searched. He grabbed onto the red box, smiling triumphantly, and brought it to Aidan's face. "I kind of ate some more when you were sleeping," he admittedly, grinning sheepishly at Aidan. "You want some?"

"I don't care about the chocolates," Aidan sighed and leaned forward, burying her head in the crook of Joker's neck and shoulder. She breathed against his skin, taking quick note of how he jumped a bit when she did.

"They – they're really good! Some have caramel inside!" Joker set the box behind Aidan and opened it up. He looked over Aidan's shoulder, trying to pick one of the few chocolates left. He smiled some more when he seemed to have found one he liked and pulled it out, offering it silently to Aidan.

Joker dropped the chocolate, immediately forgetting about it when Aidan started to kiss him gently on the neck. His arms pulled her closer to his body reflexively and then one hand slithered down the side of Aidan's body to pull one of her legs up and around his legs. His hand lingered at her thigh and rubbed it gently back and forth while the other hand rubbed small circles against her back.

Aidan let out a small moan, much to Joker's great pleasure, before moving up to nibble on his earlobe. Suddenly Aidan rolled them over so that she was now on top of Joker, after having to move with some effort. Her breasts grazed his for a bit and made Joker giggle again but Aidan ignored the giggled and continued with what she was doing.

"This is completely not what I expected but _I like it_!" Joker managed to say before Aidan pressed her lips against his. Aidan straddled his waist, sitting on his a little, and started to pry his hands off of her. Surprising her again, Joker didn't resist and she brought his hands above his head. "So you _do_ like to take charge!" came Joker's muffled words against Aidan's lips.

However, with that Aidan did next, the mood changed completely. She rolled off of Joker quickly and looked him over. Joker tried to go after her but noticed that he could move neither his arms nor his legs. He turned his head to the side to stare at her curiously. "Very… naughty… girl, you are," Joker whispered in a husky voice, half growling as he spoke.

"I'm sorry," Aidan pushed herself away from Joker, still on the bed looking at him, "You'll be free in a few hours, so don't think I'm that cruel to just leave you here… naked and chained up," Aidan got up and turned away from him, searching for her dress that was cut up into a few, but still manageable pieces. Aidan pointed her hand toward the pieces, watching carefully as the pieces slowly started to come together.

"I don't know why I'm about to tell you this but…" Aidan grabbed onto the now fixed black dress before turning around to face Joker. She crawled over to him slowly, pressing the dress to her chest as a way to hide out of reflex. She stopped just so that her face hovered above his, looking deep into his eyes. "You were… kind of my first,"

"You were kind of my first too," Joker grinned up at her.

"Huh?" Aidan lifted a hand and reached out to touch Joker's face but stopped when he shook his head and gave her a disapproving look.

"Tut, tut, tut; that's _my_ secret," Joker blinked his eyes, watching Aidan carefully as she moved away from him and started to slipped the dress on. "Now you better hurry… Tag isn't – isn't really fun when there's not much of uhm, not much of a chase to it,"

Aidan smiled wearily at Joker one last time before heading toward the wall opposite of where Joker lay. She felt around it for a bit, her hands glowing a faint purple, before a small hole started to appear right above her and the hole continued to grow. "Thanks for waking me up," she muttered. Her body started to then glow and she floated quickly out of the hole, saying nothing more to the Joker.

Joker lay back and relaxed against the bed. His eyes shifted left and right and his fingers started to tap against one another. He shivered suddenly, "Boy, I'm cold!"

--

The faint sound of voices discussing about… something or other told Bruce that he was still in the company of others. After that 'small' charity function the two women, Erica and Michelle, promised to help take his mind off things if he allowed them to come into his penthouse and have a little function of their own. Not to say that Bruce thought the idea to be utterly repulsive but he just didn't feel up for much of anything.

He remembered them _not_ waving goodbye to him as they hopped off of the helicopter but he hadn't paid much attention to it at the time. Bruce glanced down at his wrist to glare tiredly at his wristwatch. His upper body was practically sliding off of his seat and his head was almost disappearing behind the table as he waited.

Bruce caught sight of Lucius staring at him and he smiled sheepishly back, nodding his head and waving his fingers at his good and old friend. He looked over to the person across from Lucius; he stared at the person so hard he was starting to make them feel uncomfortable.

"… and I'm sure that the cooperation from both our companies will lead to something very…" the young man paused and looked from Lucius and Bruce then back to Lucius because Bruce was still glaring at him, "good?"

"And I'm sure it will, Mister Thorne," Lucius nodded politely to the young man and stood up with him. He smiled and waited for the young man to exit the room so he good talk to Bruce about his behaviour. He stared at Bruce semi-angrily and the boy just slouched more into his chair. "What is wrong with you today?"

"Just women troubles," Bruce mumbled, sliding further down his chair with a big pout on his lips.

"You? I highly doubt that," Lucius chuckled lightly when Bruce looked up at him, still pouting, and knitted his eyes in frustration. "Have you managed to get Aidan back?"

"Doyouknowifshehassomeonewaitingforherbackwhereshecamefrom?"

"What?"

"Nothing,"

"But I didn't catch that…?"

"It's nothing,"

Bruce pushed himself off of the chair, not having to regain his balance since his was 'oh-so-perfect'. He fixed up his suit, dusting it off and making sure there were no wrinkles, and smiled up at Lucius. Finally, his groggy, angry look disappeared to be replaced by that all too familiar serious look. "Do you have anything I could use to stop Aidan _in case_ she does happen to go crazy?"

Lucius stared at Bruce, befuddled at how he could just change moods so quickly like that and without much of a warning. He thought for a bit, trying to rack his brain to see if he did have anything that would stop a telekinetic on a warpath. His thumb and forefinger went up to his chin as he tried to think a little harder, remembering faintly that he might have something useful. "I don't know if it would work on _her_ specifically, but I do have something of use,"

"Good, let me see it," Bruce smiled again, his serious face disappearing to go back to that other familiar playboy look.

--

It was extremely hard to walk down the not-so clean streets of Gotham City, but it was even harder when people would stare at you oddly as you walked.

Aidan kept her head bowed and her dress hiked a little and tried to walk as fast as she could. She was thankful that many of her 'love bites' were fading away and hard to see because she had taken off the jacket to ease the heat of the day. She had this odd, sickly feeling and wanted nothing more than to just jump into a hot shower and never come out – until the hot water was all used up. However, she was currently on her way to find someone.

She would have taken a cab to avoid all the stares but this particular dress had no pockets to hold anything. She grumbled in frustration, earning herself more odd stares because she seemed to be talking to herself out loud. Just then, Aidan would have fell to her knees in joy as her eyes caught sight of that building that started it all: the MCU.

Aidan noticed that much of the building was still undergoing construction but it was still more or less still functional. She took timid steps toward the front steps, looking at her surroundings very carefully.

"Aidan!"

The young girl jumped at the call of her name and spun around to see who had called her. She turned over to the open windows to her left and saw Gordon waving excitedly at her before running over to where she was. She stayed still for him to come to her and smiled wearily when he gave her a tight hug. "Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" he cried out, his arms still wrapped protectively around her. "I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay, I'm fine Jim," she pushed him away gently, trying her best to keep her smile on despite her being so tired and wishing nothing more than that hot shower. "I know who told the joker,"

Gordon's eyes lit up but only because he was eager to catch the 'rat'. "Who is it?"

Aidan searched her memory and the memory of the others she had read thoroughly, her eyes closely. "Victor Thorne," she said after a few seconds of silence. She opened her eyes and looked at Gordon as he slowly released her from his hug and took a small step back. "Victor Thorne," she repeated.

"The new young kid?" Gordon asked her skeptically.

"Victor Thorne," Aidan told him again, her voice telling him that she was making no mistake.

Gordon looked back through the open windows and saw the young Victor Thorne laughing with the rest of the crew; sounding like someone had just said a joke. The boy looked almost Aidan's age, who was no more than two years younger than the Batman herself, and had shiny dirty blonde hair. His smiled looked far too innocent for Gordon to even think of Victor doing anything related to being bad.

"Victor Thorne graduated top of his class and had a record of practically being perfect, and he has nothing in his background to indicate any reason to team up with Joker," Gordon said in a very low whisper. "Are you sure it's him?"

"I don't know what his reasons would be, I haven't read the guy's mind yet," Aidan whispered back.

Suddenly Gordon recalled the memory of when Aidan was taken. He remembered Victor standing by the one-way mirror and biting his lips anxiously. Gordon had thought that the boy was doing that because he was nervous. "He was there when you were taken," the Commissioner whispered softly. "Why did you come back here for?"

"I needed a few things," Aidan pointed at her attire with her eyes and blushed lightly in embarrassment. Gordon smiled warmly at her and put an arm around her before leading her to the opposite direction of where Victor was. "Don't worry about that; do you want me to call in for your stuff from the hotel you were staying at?"

"Please and thank you," Aidan was led to a small, empty office and sat down on the nearest chair. She smiled thankfully at Gordon before he closed the door behind him on the way out and disappeared. As she sat there, she idly thought of a certain person and wondered what he was doing at the moment. She turned around and rested her head against the desk beside her. "I wonder what Bruce is doing," she sighed.

--

"Aidan,"

"No, I'm Rebecca,"

Bruce shook his head to snap himself out from his daze, blinked his eyes open and saw that he was standing in front of desk of one of Lucius' helpers. He smiled at her, mentally slapping himself at how he was just throwing random words out there recently. "Sorry, I guess I was starting to let my mind wander off for a bit,"

The young in front of him, Rebecca, had extremely pale skin that made her seem albino but Bruce knew better not to ask. He had completely forgotten why he was standing in front of her and was just about to ask when Rebecca spoke up first.

"As I was saying while you were 'wandering off', you have nothing else to do today," Rebecca told him as she typed away on the keyboard and stared at the monitor in a zombie-like state from doing it for so long. "Maybe you should get some sleep; you look a little tired, Mister Wayne,"

"You look a little tired too, maybe you should take a sleep break with me," Bruce leaned forward and placed his palms flat on the table. Rebecca stopped what she was doing and looked up at him, noticing a knowing grin on his face.

"Are you trying to imply something, Mister Wayne?" Rebecca leaned forward with him, their faces just inches apart from each other.

"If I was implying that you share a bed with me," Bruce whispered in a husky voice, the corners of his lips twitching upward in a grin, "We would already be there and there would be no need to imply anything,"

Bruce leaned away from Rebecca, grinning at her and smirking successfully to himself when she looked away with a light blush staining her cheeks. He bowed his head to her before turning around and heading over to the elevator. When he turned around inside, he waved at her just before the doors closed shut.

He shook his head and started to chuckle, thinking how easy it was to make a woman swoon or blush like that. "My charm is a dangerous thing," he commented out loud, laughing at himself as he stood in the elevator that was heading down by himself. "I should have named myself 'Casanova' instead of 'Batman',"

The elevator dinged, signaling that he was now on the main floor, and Bruce walked off of the elevator with a skip in his step. He saw Alfred waiting for him by the lobby desk and quickened his pace. "What are you doing here Alfred?" Bruce asked his old friend as soon as he was near enough to be heard when using his low, normal voice.

Alfred moved to the side to reveal the vehicle he had been blocking from Bruce's view. "There are also a few other things I must speak to you about,"

"You fixed my Lamborghini Alfred," Bruce smiled and started to walk toward his car.

Alfred quickly followed after Bruce, slipping into the car with him. "What's up Alfred?" Bruce asked while admiring the inside of his Lamborghini before starting it up.

"The Commissioner managed to send a message to your 'bat phone', sir," Alfred pulled out one of those fancy new iPhones.

"'Bat phone'?" Bruce repeated, laughing on the inside when he turned to look at Alfred questioningly.

"Yes, Master Bruce, 'bat phone'," Alfred sighed before looking through the phone's messages to show Bruce what Gordon had sent him.

"Can it be traced back to me?" Bruce asked curiously.

"Not at all sir," Alfred offered the phone toward Bruce and he grabbed onto it without taking his eyes off of the road. He let his eyes dart from the words on the screen to the road very quickly at the same time.

_I found out who told Joker about her._

And that was all it said. Bruce grumbled in irritation and handed the phone back to Alfred, both hands on the wheel again. "I'm going to take a nap Alfred,"

"A nap?" Alfred turned away from Bruce, placing the phone back into his pocket, and leaned back against his seat. "Shouldn't you be going to meet with him?"

"I need a nap Alfred, I need a nap," Bruce relaxed a little bit, trying not to be so tense. He turned to Alfred with a small smile. "Don't worry, alright?"

"Still thinking about Miss Jaxon?" Alfred smiled to himself when Bruce just went back to looking at the road and didn't answer him. "Maybe you like her so much because she is literally _your_ damsel in distress, and I know how men these days like to be the_ hero_ to their ladies,"

"Funny Alfred, very funny,"

--

Aidan had been woken up when Gordon came back into the room with the two bags she had brought with her when she came to Gotham. Only one bag was for her clothes while the other was just for technical things or necessities. She thanked Gordon before he disappeared out of the room again, smiling weakly at him for she was still a little tired.

She was filled with joy when she found out that the room she was in had a washroom to, thankful that she could at least wash her face and splash on some water if she couldn't shower. She stepped in, locked the door and disrobed quickly before wetting a cloth near by and rubbing herself as clean as she could get. Aidan sighed happily when the cool cloth rubbed against her tired body.

As soon as she was finished cleaning herself up and slipped on her ever comfortable tomboyish with a hint of femininity attire: a pair of dark coloured jeans that belled out at her knees, a thin fitted double-strap gray tank top, and a small unbuttoned dark beige coloured shirt with the sleeves stopping at her elbows. Aidan smiled happily at herself in the mirror, finally looking normal in her eyes.

Aidan cracked the door open and looked around to see if anyone had suddenly shown up in the room and then stepped out of the washroom slowly. She set the dress she had been wearing on a nearby chair and walked toward the door that led out of the room. She pulled it open just a little and peered around to see if anyone was around.

Her eyes were instantly met with a large man's backside as he stood in front of the door like he was guarding it. She frowned and closed the door, still inside the room. "He must have thought about doing that _after_ he left me alone again," Aidan mumbled angrily as she discovered Gordon's plan to keep her safe.

She walked over to the desk and hopped on top of it, sitting with her legs crossed. She laid her palms flat on the desk's surface and narrowed her eyes angrily at the door. Slowly, little faint purple bubbles started to appear floating all around the room. And then… '_POP!_' went one of the bubbles. The sound was more like someone would hear when another blew a bubble with gum but this sounded like it was increased tenfold.

'_POP!'_ went another one. Then another one and another and another…

Gordon swung the door open, his face full of worry. He froze at the spot when he saw many purple bubbles floating around the room with Aidan sitting angrily on the desk not too far away from him. "What are you _doing_?"

Aidan pointed an accusing finger at her 'bodyguard'. "Tell him to go away! I'm tired of just staying put in one little room! I need some sun! I need some fresh air – or as fresh as this city can get! You have no idea how irritating it is to just stay in one place and_ wait_! If you don't get rid of that giant ogre then I won't hesitate to find out what his deepest, darkest secret is and I'm sure his locked doors wouldn't be that hard to unlock! That, or I could just squeeze the life –"

Both Gordon and Aidan stared wide-eyed at each other. Aidan's hand flew up to her mouth and her body started to shake in fear. Gordon walked up to her and placed a comforting hand on her arm but Aidan flinched away. Gordon placed his hand back on her arm and stared into her scared eyes. "What was that, Aidan?"

Aidan brought her hands down and embraced herself, suddenly feeling a little cold. She started to bite her lip as she tried to think of some answer or way to explain to Gordon what might have happened since she didn't know either. "I – I…" she started, still trying to think about what just happened. "Is – is Batman coming?" she asked suddenly, staring at Gordon with eyes that threatened to release tears.

"I hope he will," Gordon replied, not too sure himself.

Aidan looked back down and started to rub her hands against the skin exposed on her arms. She shivered again, her tries to keep warming appearing to not work. "I – I think that… I think that the Joker is getting to me…"

**End Chapter**

**A/N:** As promised, I'm here with my little author's note. So, what did you think about what Joker said? The whole "You were kind of my first too?" hehe :P I'll let your imaginations figure out what he meant by that! Also, as you can sort of get from the last bit of the chapter, Aidan is becoming a little bit more hostile. What do you guys think this means? :o Will she slowly lean more toward Joker because she is slowly becoming something kind of like him or will she run from it because she doesn't want to be like him? Just like the deck of cards again! Notice how there's usually one joker in black and white and another in colour, and there is one on either end of the deck?

Well, let's look at it this way. The black and white one is on the end farthest from the Queen is the Joker everyone is used to, just some lunatic that everyone wants to stay away from especially the Queen. The coloured one is the one that anyone hardly ever sees because he's at the back but is much closer to the Queen but the King is still there to protect her ;). Hehe, isn't that sort of cute?


	7. Chapter Seven

**A/N:** Again, I'm not going to leave anything lengthy here because I want to talk about things in the chapter so I don't spoil anything. You'll see another note at the end :P

To Fuyu Tenshi:Hurray! I finally got to see those pictures and wow, they're looking pretty nice. I like :) It's pretty close to how I imagined her in my mind. And yeah, I wanted to add a little something that would sort of indicate that Bruce was getting a little interested in here but wanted to make it cute/funny.

To themethmatician:I am slowly, very slowly, starting to come a little bit more descriptive with my writing. Well, there's at least more describing/explaining on things. Ah, I don't want to say too much because all I keep thinking about it what I want to say at the end so.. Hehe, thanks for another great review! :)

**Disclaimer:** Am tired of this, but must do. Owning of the Batman and other things related, I do not. Owning of plot, Aidan Jaxon, and that new guy, I do.

Enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

Aidan brought her hands down and embraced herself, suddenly feeling a little cold. She started to bite her lip as she tried to think of some answer or way to explain to Gordon what might have happened since she didn't know either. "I – I…" she started, still trying to think about what just happened. "Is – is Batman coming?" she asked suddenly, staring at Gordon with eyes that threatened to release tears.

"I hope he will," Gordon replied, not too sure himself.

Aidan looked back down and started to rub her hands against the skin exposed on her arms. She shivered again, her tries to keep warming appearing to not work. "I – I think that… I think that the Joker is getting to me…"

**Chapter Seven**

Joker sat impatiently as he played that dangerous game of stabbing a dagger between his fingers as his hand is against a flat surface. The most amazing thing about it was that Joker never landed on his fingers, despite having been playing for over an hour now. The side of his head was against the desk beside his hand, his eyes staring excitedly as he played the game.

A few of his little goons were standing around him but away from him. Whenever one stepped over the invisible boundary he would scream at them to step away, except his eyes wouldn't turn away from the fascinating game he played.

Suddenly Joker stopped what he was doing, his head perking up and started to look around the room like a dog who had just heard something interesting in the distance. "Gimme a gun," he whispered. When no one moved from their spot he threw the dagger straight ahead, narrowly missing one of the men. "_Gimme a gun_!" he screamed.

A machine gun was thrown at him and Joker stood up to catch it. He petted it a few times, rubbing his cheek against it happily. He then pointed the gun to the wall in front of him and started to fire. Many of the men there ran and ducked for cover. Joker kept his finger on the trigger as he turned his hand in a circular motion, making a large circle indent on the wall. Soon the gun was out of ammo. He pulled on the trigger a few times, wondering why it wasn't firing anymore, before throwing it to the side. "Gimme another one!"

"But –" one man interjected, his voice a little shaky.

"_Gimme another one_!" Joker roared. He was quickly tossed another machine gun and he shot at the wall much like he had done before.

"Come on, come on, come on," he chanted to himself as he continued to shoot at the wall. He stopped shooting and threw the machine gun to the side beside the other. "_Gimme another one_!" and he was tossed another. However, he didn't pull the trigger and instead just waited.

The circle he had created in the wall started to move and break off before falling to the ground with a loud crash. It fell forward and created a large amount of dust. Joker stood his ground while the other goons moved in behind him. "You're late!" Joker shouted, sounding more annoyed than angry.

"I had a few other things to take care of," Batman replied as he slowly appeared through the thick amount of dust. He walked over the rubble, never once losing his footing as he walked on the unstable pieces. "First things first: what do you want with Aidan?"

"Gee, do I have to make it that painfully obvious to you or are you just – are you losing your touch? Losing a few brain cells from getting your head all banged up all the time? Maybe… May – maybe you should uh, get that checked out… Wouldn't want you losing your mind now, do we?" Joker laughed as soon as he was finished talking, showing his deep yellow-stained teeth for the entire world to see.

"Where is she?" Batman's voice was once again that low, raspy, husky voice that he felt the need to use.

Joker laughed more, his hand going to his stomach as he laughed harder. "Do you _see_ her? You really are a bat! You know… being uh, _blind_ and everything,"

Batman suddenly rushed at Joker, grabbing him by the collar and not letting go even after he rammed Joker against the wall. "A-hee, hoo-hoo, heee!" Joker breathed out as he tried to laugh while Batman's arm pushed hard against his throat. "Temper, temper bat-face,"

"What are you planning to do with her?" Batman pushed his arm harder against Joker's neck but moved it a little down to let Joker speak.

"It's all very simple really…" Joker brought his hands up to help emphasize words by gesturing his hands and flicking his wrist. "Wh – while you are '_wooing_'," Joker made the little quotation symbols in the air, ignoring Batman's annoyed glare, "Miss Jaxon, I am… uh… I am…" Joker licked his lips and swallowed hard, a smirk appearing on his face, "Well you know what I'm doing,"

Batman jabbed his elbow hard against Joker's chest angrily, which caused Joker to cough a bit. "Get to the point," Batman demanded harshly, growling and showing his teeth.

"Right – right this moment… she's thinking about _me_," Joker smiled knowingly at Batman, "And _you_ too," Joker paused to fix his hair, pushing it over to the side before continuing. "She'll be torn – not in the literal sense though… I would never want to break that beautiful, supple –" Joker was suddenly being choked by Batman when he pushed his arm against his throat again. "She's like a ticking bomb!" Joker spat out quickly, taking in as much air as he could when Batman relaxed his hold. "Every… minute that… that _you_ are not near… the more chances she has of – of cracking!"

"Why are you doing this to her?" Batman's hold slackened somewhat but not enough so that the Joker could wiggle free.

Joker looked like he was at a loss of words, opening and closing his mouth as he tried to figure out what to say. "I…" he started, still not sure of how to explain himself. "_I_ want _her_ to… to realize… who – who she…" Joker rolled his eyes back a bit as he tried to think harder, trying to find the exact words that would explain it all. "_I_ want _her_ to realize who she – what she really _is_…" he said finally, smiling to himself triumphantly. "It is such a shame to see someone with _so much_ power… capable of _so much_ destruction and… and be afraid of it,"

"Why are you telling me all this so willingly?" The masked vigilante knew that time was ticking but his curiosity got the better of him.

"To make things more interesting, why else?"

Batman threw Joker to the side and ran out through the gaping hole, courtesy of Joker, and jumped into his Batpod. He could faintly hear the spine-chilling fits of laughter the Joker let out as he drove off, going to the first place he would think Aidan might be at if not with him _or_ the Joker.

--

Victor Thorne, the newest and youngest member of Gordon's squad, sat alone in the interrogation room. He twiddled his thumbs, rocking back and forth a bit, as he waited for someone to come in. He had been left in there for a few hours no without being told what was going on. The young man's deep green eyes surveyed the room as he continued to wait, a small curious pout on his lips.

He leaned forward and rested his elbows against the table with his chin in his palms, sighing tiredly, as boredom slowly crept up over him. He brought one hand down to the table and started to tap a single finger in a slow, steady rhythm. He sighed again, "Can someone just tell me what's going on already? I'm going to die of boredom!" Victor cried out desperately, wanting any method that would lead to him at least doing something.

However, no one came and the only noise he heard was his own steady breathing. "This really sucks…" he grumbled out loud before letting his head fall forward and banging his forehead against the table repeatedly. "I'm not really liking this silent treatment!" he shouted, still banging his head.

More minutes passed by and still no one came. Victor yawned tiredly, his body becoming weary from trying to stay awake and alert since he thought something big was going on. But apparently, _nothing_ was going on. "This is, by far, the dullest moment of my life… and I thought staring at paint dry was boring! That sounds _way_ more interesting than this!"

Suddenly the door opened and Victor literally jumped up for joy. He hopped over the table and lunged forward, wrapping his arms around the first person to enter the room. Unfortunately for him, his eyes were closed so when he opened them he quickly wished he hadn't jumped up for joy.

Victor quickly released Batman from his hold, clearing his throat and turning his head down to the side as a light shade of red appeared on his cheeks. "Aha…" he laughed nervously as the blush deepened and he fidgeted on the spot. "Did anyone else see that?"

Batman ignored him and stepped further into the room with Aidan hiding behind him, clinging onto his cape, and Gordon following soon after them. Aidan kept as close as she could to Batman, stepping back a bit earlier when Victor surprised them when he unexpectedly hugged Batman. She wanted to laugh when he felt Batman's mood change from serious to dumbfounded but held it in. As the three settled themselves into the room, Batman made sure that Victor wouldn't be able to see Aidan, stepping in the young man's line of vision to the young woman.

"I really didn't mean to just jump at you like that, I swear! I was – it was – bored and – but I – _did_ anyone else see that?" Victor's blushed disappeared and his face looked like he was more worried about being seen hugging Batman than being thrown into the interrogation room. "Seriously! Did _anyone_ see that? I have a girlfriend and she – girls and – boys aren't – I didn't –"

"Victor!" Gordon interrupted, gaining the young man's attention instantly, "Shut up!"

"Sorry! I – sorry! Shutting up now!" Victor stopped fidgeting and looked down to the ground, going back to twiddling his thumbs together.

Gordon looked over to Batman and looked at him pleadingly, silently asking that Batman stay out of it for now. He smiled warily when Batman nodded at him and took a small step back to let Gordon begin asking the questions. "I'm just going to be straight with you Victor," Gordon started and waited until Victor looked up at him to continue. "Did you tell Joker _anything_ about Aidan being here that night?"

"What? Joker! I didn't – he – I would – there's – how – no!" Victor stumbled on his words clumsily and if he were walking down the sidewalk Batman was sure that Victor would manage to fall down a manhole. The young man in front of him didn't seem like the type to ever step near the Joker. He already looked like he would be afraid of his own shadow if he were faced with a few serious characters like right this moment.

"Do you know _anyone_ who might have told the Joker then, if it wasn't you?" something inside Gordon still made him not want to believe that someone like Victor would ever do such a thing.

"I – no – just – is she in here?" Victor's head turned toward Batman and looked at him questioningly.

"Why would you think that?" Batman asked in a protective manner, his body tensing up in instinct like when a wild animal tenses up when they automatically know someone has passed through their territory.

"Something's tugging at your cape," Victor smiled timidly at Batman who only just glared at him. He pointed with his chin to Batman's right shoulder which made everyone turn to look and see Batman's cape move just a small fraction. "You're hands are in front of you so you can't be tugging yourself,"

Aidan went on her tiptoes to look over Batman's shoulder before he was able to hold her still. She eyed Victor carefully, gazing at them with a calculating stare. However, he smiled warmly at her, which made Aidan feel a little less nervous and a bit more relaxed. "Hi," he said to her, still smiling that warm smile that was slowly irritating Batman. "Hi…" Aidan replied timidly.

"Erm, Victor?" came Gordon's sudden voice, breaking the trance-like state Victor and Aidan had just shared.

"Uh, so – sorry," Victor laughed sheepishly, his hand going up to the back of his head and scratching from a habit of being nervous. "No, I don't know anyone who would tell the Joker about her,"

Suddenly the mood within the room changed and they all seemed much more relaxed – except for Batman. Victor continued to smile, his eyes shining brightly in cheerfulness. "Am I free to go yet?" Victor asked Gordon.

"Huh? Yeah… yeah…" Gordon stepped to the side eagerly yet his eyes seemed a little hazy, like he was suddenly drunk on something.

Victor started to make his way to the door until Batman jumped in front of him, eyes blazing angrily. "What did you do to them?" came Batman's feral growl. He pried Aidan's fingers off from his cape so that he could walk toward Victor, moving slowly as a way to intimidate.

"Oh shit! You're wearing a helmet…" Victor backed away from Batman, immediately trying to think something up. "Look, I _swear_, I don't do anything bad! I just do this when I need to get out of trouble fast!" the young, dirty blonde headed man admitted quickly, still backing away as Batman stalked every so slowly toward him.

"But _what_ did you do?" Batman growled out again.

Victor stopped backing away and sighed in defeat. He ran his fingers through his hair and took in a few long inhales and exhales to try and relax. "I can control the mood and emotions of a certain amount of people within a certain area through smell… it's all okay because they don't even remember anything about it,"

Batman stopped moving and stared at Victor oddly, almost like he couldn't believe that the young man had just said. "Through smell?"

Victor frowned as he had expected Batman to ask more about his 'little' ability. "Okay… you know pheromones? It's something that animals send out to 'influence' the behaviour of other creatures, playing an especially big role in the attraction of males and females…" Victor paused and looked at Batman to see if he still wanted to pay attention. "Well, I do something like that… Dammit! I'm like an insect! Look it up…" Victor crossed his arms over his chest, stopping only because he was growing embarrassed from trying to explain it all to Batman. "You are _so_ lucky that I am doing my little trick right now so that no one will ever remember me saying this,"

"Why did Aidan say you were the rat? You using your little 'trick' makes you seem a bit suspicious right now," Batman took a step forward and Victor took a quick step back.

"Maybe she got mistaken," Victor suggested, taking a few more steps away from Batman.

"How could a telepath be mistaken?" Batman countered quickly but didn't get to do a mini victory dance in his head when Victor just rolled his eyes at him.

"Maybe the person she read was mistaken – ever thought of that _genius_?" Victor retorted and tried to match Batman's glare by taking a firm step forward. He quickly took note that he and Batman weren't that different height wise.

"I'm not liking your attitude kid," Batman and Victor took another step toward each other, their angry glares never faltering.

"I don't like your attitude either! The only reason you're immune right now is you're wearing a helmet, mask – whatever – and your nose is being covered up," Victor spat out angrily. The two of them continued to glare at each other, Victor's eyebrow twitching a little while Batman's face remained solid mostly because facial features couldn't be seen through the mask.

The seconds ticked by without either one of them moving or flinching, not even blinking their eyes for just a quick blink. "You were just some clumsy looking kid a few minutes ago," Batman pointed out, mostly meaning for that comment to be said in his head.

"It's called a 'front', I'm sure you have one too," Victor responded bitterly. He stared at Batman for a few more seconds before turning away and sighing. "Look – I've got a twin brother; maybe the guy she read thought he was me," Victor walked over to the table and jumped up on it, moving a bit until he was comfortable in his hard wooden seat. "His name's Vaughn Thorne, he looks a lot like me but has dark blue eyes instead of green – easy to get that mixed up," Victor said, the last part sounding a bit more sarcastic than anything else.

Suddenly Batman remembered something that had happened earlier that day. He didn't remember much because he wasn't even trying to pay attention, but he could remember he and Lucius having a meeting with a young man with dark blue eyes and his last name was Thorne. He tried to keep his face still as realization hit him. "Where would he be at usually?"

"I don't know! Scheming something evil, maybe?" Victor shrugged his shoulders, his blank face telling Batman that he really didn't have a clue.

"Why haven't you tried to stop him if he's 'scheming something evil'?"

"Stop him? Ha! I just change people's mood and emotion! The most I could do with that guy is make him drunk happy for a few hours and then he'd just go back to being insane," Victor rested his hands against the table and leaned back, kicking his feet in the air. "Can I leave now? I don't think I can keep up the happy, drunk mood for much longer,"

"There's only two people in here," Batman frowned when Victor smiled at him like he had just said something stupid.

"Plus the rest of the building and the ones in the buildings within the immediate area – just in case," Victor hopped off from the table and started to head toward the door. He bowed low to Aidan and Gordon who looked to be having a hard time standing up. Victor grinned sheepishly and moved them around to try and help them stand better.

"Side effects of me doing this for too long on someone: uh, chance of permanent damage to the brain cells," Victor let out a small, boyish giggle when he changed Gordon's position so that he was bent forward with his hands pressed up against the wall, his bottom rear up in the air. "Oh god! I wish I was here to see this guy wake up,"

Victor turned back to Batman and called out his name, grinning at the man with a cape. "Good luck, you'll need it,"

Batman looked at Victor and considered his words carefully. He was about to ask Victor why he would need his words of good luck when Victor beat him to it. "Let's just say my brother isn't as… _friendly_ as I am,"

Batman kept silent and watched Victor leave the room. The young man's footsteps echoed in the hallways for a while as they slowly decreased in volume. "Great," Batman muttered to himself, "I have someone new to deal with while _still_ trying to deal with Joker,"

--

"Just a few more days, just a _few_ more days,"

Joker clapped happily as he danced around a small space in a much large room. He had moved from old toy factories to old car factories. He ran toward one of the car making machines with a very noticeable skip to his step. He picked up a steel bar before hopping to a stop beside the conveyor belt. He eyed the unfinished car on it curiously for a while, his eyes widening in awe. Joker jumped up beside the skeletal car and started to smash the steel bar against it, laughing excitedly.

He stopped suddenly when he heard someone coming near and crouched low, his head tilted to the side, as he waited for the person to appear.

"I did everything you wanted Joker, let me know more about the plan! Let me in more Joker!" came the sound of a young man's voice.

"No, no, no! Only she is allowed! Only _she_ is allowed to be in here?" Joker tapped a finger against the side of his head, tumbling backward to sit with his legs crossed on the conveyor belt. "Just a few more days,"

"I'm not just another one of your dogs to order around Joker," the young man's voice sounded strong and firm but still had a small hint of something husky that would indicate he was in the eyes of many women, "I made sure that every single person in this little game of yours moved in all the right places," He stepped out from the shadows, showing Joker his very angry face. His dirty blonde hair was short enough to style it up, making it a little spiky. His deep shade of blue eyes trying hard to bore hole into the Joker, failing miserably.

"No, no… _I_ made sure everyone moved in all the right places," Joker rocked back and forth excitedly, his hands gripping himself at his ankles. "And – and deep down inside you know that you're… that you _are_ just another dog to order around because you know that with – without _me_ you can't uh… do _anything_ right," Joker stopped rocking himself and pushed himself up and jumped off of the conveyor belt. He walked leisurely at the young blue-eyed man, pulling out a small dagger.

"See… you're one of those people who wants to 'take over the world'," Joker made sure to make quotation mark signs in the air to help emphasize his point. He started to walk around the young man once he was only about a foot away from him. "What are you uh… what are you going to do when you 'take over the world', hm? Do you know? Do you know what you're going to do? Are you just going to sit there? Hm? Are you going to… to pretend that you're the king now? Come on… you and I both know that someone else will just come along and 'take over the world',"

Joker stopped walking around the young man and stood in front of him, licking his lips a few times before continuing with his small 'lecture'. "That is – that's_ why_ we are going to uh… destroy it piece by piece in a – in an agonizingly slow pace so that we could uh… so that we could _relish_ that feeling of power before someone else comes along and just takes it away, get it? Hm? Do you?"

The young man sighed and rolled his eyes. "Do you always have to talk that much?"

"You have a lot to learn young Vaughn, _a lot_ to learn," Joker shook his finger at Vaughn as he walked closer to the younger man. He smiled when Vaughn didn't look like he was going to flinch away or try to move any time soon and quickly put an arm around Vaughn's shoulders. "You know, I like you… I like you… You're a good kid – you kind of remind me of myself when I was a young lad!"

"_Please_," Vaughn bit out harshly. He grabbed onto Joker's arm and threw it away from his shoulders like it was some disgusting little bug that he wanted to be rid of it quickly. "Do _not_ tell me another story, I'm sick of it,"

"Aw…" Joker pouted and watched Vaughn stepping away from him as he stood there with his shoulders slumped like something had been taken away from him. "I like stories,"

"I still want to know what you're up to Joker, stop trying to distract me,"

"A few more days," a large smile started to appear on his face before he started to laugh that eerie laugh, his body shaking form the force of it. He turned away from Vaughn and started to skip away, still laughing uncontrollably. "A few more days!"

**End Chapter**

**A/N:** Oh my god! New characters! Haha! And no, they weren't just put there in a whim. If you noticed from the very first chapter there was a small, but still noticeable, part that says there's a young man looking into the interrogation room. I didn't want to put too much detail on that because I didn't want to make it seem obvious but I still wanted to let people know he was there. Sneaky of me, isn't it? These two new guys are here to help the plot move along, mostly for fighting/angry/whatever doesn't involve romance purposes.

So... the question is: what do you guys think about Victor and Vaughn Thorne? I, personally, think they're very cute... though, I also think that Joker oh-so adorable so my tastes might be a little biased on a few things.


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N:** Hehe, sorry if I just suddenly threw those new guys at you. But they are important in some way. And now that they are here... A new reason to his being rated M has appeared: foul language! Well, I don't know, it's not that bad. Anyway! I just wanted to say a few other things - like I usually do. I have chosen who Aidan will end up with but I will make sure to make it increasingly hard for any of you readers to figure out who it is - even if you try to read between the lines :P Only because I love how Joker and Aidan have a sort of awkward relationship (him always pursuing her but her trying hard to stay away) and Bruce/Batman and Aidan having a sort of awkward relationship too (clearly wanting each other in some way or form but never really wanting to admit it). Aw. It's so cute.

To Jessi: Hehe, cool, you're a psych major? And I'm glad you think I did an amazing job keeping Joker as Joker :)

To liVe-yOur-fAntasY: Updated! :P

To Jenny: Oh my god! Thank you so much! :D

To Fuyu Tenshi:Personally, I think that Joker is a complete genius - no matter what he says about having a plan or not. He always seems to be a step ahead with everything and always makes it seem like he's just going with the flow. Like that part within the movie where he 'planned' to get sent to the MCU as a distraction. Joker Genius. And also, if you ever watched the cartoons or read a few comics, you can also see how smart he is. He's just... oh man. I love him.

**Disclaimer:** Must I say it? ... I don't own any of them :S Except Aidan Jaxon and Victor and Vaughn Thorne - and this plot!

Enjoy away! :)

**In the last chapter:**

"Aw…" Joker pouted and watched Vaughn stepping away from him as he stood there with his shoulders slumped like something had been taken away from him. "I like stories,"

"I still want to know what you're up to Joker, stop trying to distract me,"

"A few more days," a large smile started to appear on his face before he started to laugh that eerie laugh, his body shaking form the force of it. He turned away from Vaughn and started to skip away, still laughing uncontrollably. "A few more days!"

**Chapter Eight**

6:43 AM.

The young Gotham billionaire stared at the clock for the millionth time since he had gotten back to his penthouse. Bruce lay still on top of his bed with a blank, but somewhat thoughtful, expression on his face. The empty silence of the whole penthouse some how disturbing to Bruce, making him stay up and think about things – and he really didn't want to think.

Bruce could already see the sunlight peering through his glass walls but not so much to wake away up from their slumber. He had one hand placed behind his pillow where his head lay while the other was extended out to the side beside him. He exhaled slowly when he realized that his thoughts would always linger back to a certain someone.

He turned over toward the direction his hand was extended to and gave a small smile when he saw Aidan sleeping peacefully. She had repeatedly insisted that he not let go of her hand and Bruce didn't really make any sudden refusals to her demand. Though, they did let go long enough to allow Aidan's modesty to come back when she wanted to change clothes for the night and he did the same.

Bruce moved his hand carefully, Aidan's head resting against his upper arm, so that he could be a little bit more comfortable. He slithered his way over closer to Aidan, moving ever so smoothly so that he wouldn't wake her up. He squeezed the hand that she held onto so tightly very gently as he neared her, their bodies now almost touching. Bruce leaned forward and rubbed his forehead against Aidan's hair, doing all this without thinking.

Suddenly he become angry and stopped himself before he did anything else, the other hand that was unconsciously itching closer to Aidan's shoulder fisting into a tight ball and moving away. "I can't do this… not now…" Bruce muttered out loud, his eyes closing tightly as if he was trying to will everything to disappear.

"Nn… do what?"

Aidan woke up with a tired yawn and stretched as far as she could, like a cat on the couch just being lazy. She slowly turned over to face Bruce, letting go of his hand as she did. "Sorry I sort of made you practically sleep beside me," she didn't look away from Bruce's stare when she spoke, which made her cheeks turn a noticeable shade of red despite it being a little dark. "But look at who I'm taking to! Bruce Wayne, billionaire playboy… you must sleep with a lot of women,"

Bruce ignored what she had just said and pushed a few stray strands of hair from her face and tucked it behind her ear. His eyes looked like he was looking at some far away place; like he was thinking very deeply again. His hand lingered near her ear for a bit before moving to cup the side of her face. "I can't have you, can I?" he spoke with a sad, yet longing, tone of voice. His eyes looked deep into Aidan's garnet-hazel ones, his face leaning forward by just a millimetre.

"What're you talking about?" Aidan placed a hand over Bruce's and stared back at him, but she only look at him curiously.

Bruce's face leaned in just a little bit more toward Aidan. He moved his hand from her face and let it trail down to her neck, then her shoulder, then moved until it was rested comfortably at the small of her back. "You're really still not reading my mind," Bruce inhaled deeply, his eyes shutting for only just a moment.

"You told me not to!" Aidan explained, though it sounded a little more like a whine.

"You can read it, just this once," Bruce's face closer to Aidan's but it was still hard to notice from how slow he moved and how little distance he shifted as well.

"Just this once?"

"Just this once,"

Aidan smiled excitedly and let Bruce's mind flood into hers. Instantly, images of her and Bruce in _many_ very compromising positions appeared like a little mini film in her head. Her body suddenly became heated and flush, her heartbeat quickening, as she took a shape intake of air. She quickly ceased the intrusion of Bruce's mind into hers and blinked surprised eyes at him. "Uhm, wow… I never knew someone could uh… could do all those… things,"

That was when Aidan finally noticed how close Bruce's face was getting and how his hand rubbed the small spot on her lower back. She saw something in Bruce's eyes that she could remember seeing in Joker's and quickly averted her eyes. She felt Bruce place his forehead against hers and closed her eyes when Bruce pulled her body closer.

"But you won't do it," Aidan sighed sadly; her voice was low and barely a whisper.

Bruce moved to nuzzle Aidan against her shoulder. "I can't," he whispered against her skin back to her.

Aidan nodded her head and relaxed a little more so that she could go back to sleeping. She felt Bruce's arms move around her to hold her gently but it seemed like he was almost afraid to touch her, like he might break her if he pulled her closer.

However, in the back of his mind, Bruce kept the real reason why he couldn't do it locked away. He closed his eyes and knitted his brows together as he continued to think. He pulled his head away so that he could get a good look at Aidan's sleeping face and he was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness. "I _don't_ want to…" he whispered, repeating the line he had said earlier, "But I know I _will_ have to soon… I don't know why but I know I will have to," and then Bruce finally let his body relax, drifting off into a light sleep.

--

"I think I can try handling life without you now,"

"Are you sure?"

Aidan nodded her head enthusiastically at Bruce to try and convince him that she could spend at least a few hours away from him but all he did was look at her with concerned eyes. The sun was almost high in the centre of the sky and Alfred had warned Bruce that there was another meeting to head off to, that was starting almost an hour from now.

Aidan sat in one of the sofa-chairs closest to the glass walls. Bruce sat in front of her on the small table in the centre of the circle of chairs. He was changed and completely ready to get going but wouldn't leave because of his worry for Aidan – and his dislike for meetings.

"How about coming with me?" Bruce proposed, hoping that Aidan would take it and accept.

"Go to a meeting with you at Wayne Enterprises? Gee, that sounds all interesting and seems like it would be a _total_ party but I think I would rather stay here – or go out somewhere?" Aidan smiled hopefully at Bruce. When she had woken up that morning she had a sudden urge to just go out and explore Gotham. Though, she was somewhat aware that she _needed_ to be near Bruce for something but was honestly getting bored of staying in one spot all the time.

"No, you're coming with me," Bruce stood up and grabbed onto Aidan's arm gently. The young woman gasped at his sudden assertiveness but made no move to protest or even try to wiggle out from his hold. "And your clothes will be fine," Bruce said quickly before they came near the elevator, referring to her constant need to wear casual wear everywhere: a simple pair of jeans and a slightly fitted shirt that ended up to her mid-thigh.

"Alfred – look up Victor and Vaughn Thorne," Bruce shouted over his shoulder as he quickly closed the distance between him and the elevator.

"What should I do with the information?" Alfred shouted back as he picked up the tray of food that was, yet again, not touched by Bruce but Aidan still had a little bit of it.

"Call me as soon as you get it!" Bruce pulled Aidan into the elevator quickly before the doors could close on her. He had tugged a little too hard and accidentally made Aidan bump into his chest. The two looked at each other for a moment before quickly pulling away and standing side by side, eyes averted from the other.

They couldn't have reached the main floor any faster and Bruce went back to gently pulling Aidan with him by the arm, though his hand was at her wrist now.

"Hello there!" called one of the security guards, smiling at Bruce when the other man nodded at him in acknowledgement.

"So… who's Victor and Vaughn Thorne?" Aidan asked curiously.

Bruce paused to turn around and look at Aidan in surprise, "You don't remember?"

"Don't remember what?" came Aidan's confused reply.

Bruce shook his head and continued walking, "Nothing…"

--

Bruce and Aidan had arrived at the meeting room with just a few seconds to spare. Everyone looked up at them with semi-interested eyes and watched as they sat down on the far side of the table – away from them – before starting with the meeting.

Lucius shook his head, chuckling lightly when Bruce looked at him with a sheepish smile. "Let's start with this now, shall we?" he said as he looked around the room. Everyone nodded their heads enthusiastically, except for Aidan who gained some attention when she sighed, and one man stood up when Lucius gave the signal that he could start.

Bruce's eyes slowly started to drift close as soon as the man had started to talk. He leaned back and relaxed in his seat as he prepared himself to just drown everything out. He heard Aidan's whisper, telling him that it wasn't nice to go to sleep in a meeting, but he hadn't really slept all too well last night. He had only allowed himself to relax to a point where he was still slightly alert to things going on around him. Kind of like a dog when they sleep, always waking up at the smallest sudden noise.

Aidan sat uncomfortably, wishing she could just duck away whenever one of the other people in the room would turn and stare at her and Bruce.

--

Joker sat impatiently in front of a television screen. His feet were up on the edge of his seat and he tapped his hand rapidly against his knee as he waited. "Is – is – is it ready yet?" he asked around him. However, there seemed to be no one around him in the dark room he was in.

He reached over beside him and grabbed onto the remote control, switching on the television screen. It was on some random news channel and Joker looked to be pleased with the choice. He reached into his pocket and pulled out another device that looked like a remote control but held only one, small button. Joker pressed onto the button excitedly and then pressed on it some more.

Whatever was showing on the news channel didn't stray from whatever they were talking about. Joker started to tap his had rapidly against his knee again as he waited. "Come on… come on…"

A few minutes passed and still nothing seemed to change, however Joker held on fast to his patience before he could jump up and hit the television screen. Suddenly the screen changed and a new reporter appeared on the screen.

"_We come with breaking and very alarming news_," came the news anchor's cracking voice.

Joker jumped in his seat and leaned forward. He licked his lips eagerly and his eyes widened as he continued to listen to what the news anchor was saying.

"_Just minutes ago a large explosion was set off in various spots in downtown Gotham,_"

Joker clapped his hands and planted his feet on the floor so that he could lean in closer to the screen. He dragged the seat closer, the painful screeching noise it made not bothering him at all. "Come on, come on… Show me, show me… _Show me_!" Joker growled out.

The screen changed from the news anchor's face to a particular street that looked perfectly fine. "_One of our helicopters were flying right above it when it had happened_,"

Suddenly, in the middle of the intersection, the ground shot up into the air and made a loud bang. Joker laughed and clapped his hands as more pieces of the ground flew into the air. Many screams followed and a few cars had been taken up into the air with the ground that flew up. From the helicopter's view, one could see the people on the sidewalks running off to the side or just running the other way.

Joker's smile widened as he saw people running and tripping as they went, cars falling back to the ground all damaged to the point that it looked like it would never be fixed. A few pieces of the cement ground fell on top of the cars and made a loud smashing, crunching noise that made Joker laugh more.

A large crack started to spread out from the gaping hole in the ground and a few even made it all the way to a few buildings. Cars and other vehicles rammed into each other farther away from where everything was happening, making the others in front of them get pushed closer and closer to the chaos.

The helicopter also looked like it was having a hard time for the camera everyone was viewing the whole scene through was shaking slightly. The ground closest to where the explosion had happened looked like it was being peeled and pulled back from the ground.

Then the sound of police sirens echoed in the distance and Joker couldn't help but snicker at them all. He could see the lights far, far away from the actual scene. Mostly because of all the traffic…

After the ground seemed to have stopped flying upward, a small flash was seen coming out from the hole in the ground. It happened so quickly that if someone were asked they probably would say that they never saw it. However, Joker knew it was there and it made him all the more happier. "A – and now… it _really_ begins…"

Joker leaned back in his seat and stretched out his legs. His hands went back behind his head and he looked up at the dark ceiling. "Sorry beautiful but… I'm sure you'll be fine… Amazing h – how a little _pulse_ could – could start so many uh… so many _things_,"

--

Everyone paused for a moment when they felt a slight shake of the room. It had only happened for just a short while that no one took it too seriously. They all looked to each other – except for Bruce and Aidan – to see if everyone was all right in continuing. When no one seemed to object, they went on with that they were doing.

Aidan suddenly fell over to the side and off of the chair. Everyone in the room stopped whatever they were doing and whatever they were saying to stare into Aidan's direction. Her hands flew up to her head and she pulled at her hair as she started to scream in pain.

Bruce jumped to his feet to hold on to her but ran right into some invisible wall. His eyes went wide at the familiar dome around Aidan and he banged his fist hard against it. The more he banged against it the more it seemed like Aidan's scream increased in volume.

Lucius stood to his feet and quickly made his way beside Bruce, almost going into a slow run. He looked down at Aidan as she continued to scream her lungs out and then looked at Bruce. He frowned when the young man continued to bang his fist against Aidan's impossible shield with a face of concentrated determination.

"Aidan! _Aidan_!" Bruce shouted, still banging his fist against the shield. Then he could remember in the back of his mind about what Joker had said, about not being able to be near Aidan. Bruce's anger was making his body tense up, a vein at the side of his head pulsing in the same beat as his heart. Bruce continued to try and get through to Aidan by calling out her name yet knew that it would be no help.

He had to _be_ beside her; he had to hold her for her to calm down. However, it didn't look like he would be able to do any of that if her shield was still up. "_Aidan_!" he called to her again.

Aidan sat on the floor with her legs folded beside her and her back arched forward. Her dome shield suddenly got bigger, pushing Bruce onto the floor. Bruce looked up at Lucius when he felt the man's hand on his shoulder. "Lucius, I can't do that to her! I _can't_ do that!" Bruce shouted when Lucius gave him a knowing look, as sad as it may be, and shook Lucius' hand away from his shoulder.

"You asked me for it Bruce," Lucius told him calmly through Aidan's screams.

The others in the room also stood up and looked at Aidan, all with worried stares. "Is she all right?" one of them asked, however his question went unanswered.

"I said _if_ Lucius! _In case_!" Bruce yelled back at him, still sitting on the floor.

"And it's _happening_ Bruce!" Lucius shouted, his voice almost going over Aidan's screams.

Bruce got up to his feet and rushed out through the doors. He saw almost everyone on the floor standing around the door and looked at him curiously, wondering why they were hearing a woman scream out in pain. He ignored them, pushing passed them, as he ran toward the elevator.

"What's going on in there?" someone shouted to him as he zoomed by.

"_No one_ goes into that room!" Bruce ordered just as the elevator doors opened for him. "And I mean _no one_!"

The elevator doors closed in front of him and Bruce instantly turned around to slam his fist against the wall behind him. He could still hear Aidan's screams but now they were slowly started to fade away the closer he got to the main floor. Once he reached the main floor and reached toward the front doors and quickly noticed all the cars on the street.

Bruce looked outside and saw rows upon rows of cars honking and drivers shouting at each other.

"There was an explosion further downtown," the man at the lobby desk said to Bruce. He lifted the small television on his desk and turned it around so that Mister Wayne could see what was going on.

Bruce walked toward the desk to see the screen better and listened impatiently to everything the reporter had to say. His blood boiled to a point that he thought that steam was actually coming out from his ears as he continued to stare at all the chaos going on downtown.

His mind quickly went back to Aidan and he ran toward the back of the building, heading toward the underground paring lot. "I can't waste anymore time!" he shouted to himself as he ran through the hallways and down staircases. "Dammit Joker!"

--

Two young dirty blonde headed man sat back to back to each other, leaning on the other for support. Their heads were bowed down and they seemed to be sleeping, unconscious or pretending. They both sat on a wooden chair and their hands were bound to the back of the chair. All around them looked like gravel or something like pebbles all over the floor.

"I am _so_ hating you more right now," grumbled one of the two men, head still bowed down.

"Shut up Victor," the other one spat back angrily.

"Why the _hell_ did you even fucking team up with that Joker? You must _really_ be insane Vaughn!" Victor shouted. He lifted his head up and hit Vaughn in the back of the head with his.

Both brothers let out a moan of pain and tried to rub the back of their head only, forgetting that their hands were tied, and both grumbled about something at the same time.

"You know what?" Victor turned his head around to try and glare at his brother but to no use, his green eyes narrowing in anger. "Fuck you Vaughn! _Fuck you_! Oh – and thanks for sending Batman after me! Thanks for trying to make _me_ the bad guy, _big_ brother!"

Vaughn shook in his chair, kicking his feet into the air. When he shook in his chair and kicked his feet he heard the sound of chains rattling and finally felt that his feet were soaked through his shoes because there was a puddle right underneath him. "You have no idea how much I want to straggle you right now…" Vaughn said in a low whisper, his words holding a promise to them.

"Are you fucking _stupid_? Look at what teaming up with the Joker's done! Stop trying to drag me down with you!" Victor head was still turned to the side, still trying to glare at his brother.

"Joker didn't do this idiot!" Vaughn shot back. "And if you had just been paying attention then you wouldn't have to be in this situation, now would you?"

"He's right you know, Joker didn't do this,"

Both brothers turned their heads to the side and looked up to see who had just spoken. Victor's eyes narrowed angrily, if he could even get any angrier right now, and a small smirk appeared on Vaughn's face when they saw whom the voice belonged to.

There, standing not too far away from the twins, was none other than Harvey Two Face with an oxygen mask on to avoid Victor's ability in case the young man decided to use it. "You two make too much noise, you know?"

"Nice! You're wearing an oxygen mask! Who told you about that – Vaughn?!" Victor would have pointed an accusing finger at his brother if his hands weren't tied at the moment.

"Fuck you Victor! I have chains on and am in a puddle of water! They know about mine too! Wonder to told him, huh?" Vaughn yelled back to his brother and rattled his chains and splashed the water to prove to Victor that he was in sort of the same predicament.

Harvey rolled his eyes as the two brothers continued to fight with each other. He knew he should have placed the two in separated rooms but he needed to talk to them at the same time, so he took the risk. Harvey didn't really think the two would yell and shout so much like this. He knew they had sibling rivalry but this was getting too insane that he was starting to get a headache. "Could you two shut up, for once?" he interjected.

"Holy shit! You're supposed to be fucking dead, you know?" Victor half shouted. He started to try and wiggled out of the ropes tied around his wrists and bit his lip when the rope scratched at his skin. However, despite the biting pain, Victor kept on trying to wiggle himself loose from his restraints.

"Do I look dead to you?"

**End Chapter**


	9. Chapter Nine

**A/N:** Howdy folks! Me again with yet another author's note. It's official. This story has totally gone insane! Like seriously, it's just going crazy right now. I feel bad for all the characters! I feel so mean doing the things I'm doing to them right now but alas, it must be done. The show must go on! Anyway... I've had _so_ many dreams of up coming scenes/chapters for this story I practically have the story finished - in my head :P Is that weird to happen? And, I am so glad my memory isn't on the fritz so that I'll be able to remember everything, hehe ;;

To themethmatician: (To the chapter seven review) Hehe, yeah, I thought that the good ol' bad Joker should come back from his sort of romantic state. To be honest, I sort of held back a bit when I write scenes with Joker being bad because I think, "No, it's not time for that yet" so I keep him in check until it's that right time... Aha, sorry! And no, nothing _that_ interesting will be happening between Aidan and Victor. But something will :P (To the chapter eight review) Haha, glad you think it feels like Christmas :P And for the beginning scene... I loved it too. I kept on stopping and going, "Aw!" when I would imagine it. I think they're kind of acting like a pair of shy teens who like each other :o I'm also glad to think the scene with Aidan screaming was tense but not in that bad way. I was aiming for something like that. Victor and Vaughn are a couple of dudes who just... they like to be the 'bad boys'. And yes... Two Face! :D

To juicycouturevalerie: First: sorry if I spelt your name wrong. Second: yes, this is crazy! And I love it too :P

To Fuyu Tenshi: Hehe, I sort of like doing the scenes between Victor and Vaughn a bit more because they're not so dark as the others are. They're like the young ones in the story who are still living life the way they want it. And I also love the whole sibling fighting thing, makes me laugh. I could also see Harvey getting very irritated at the two of them because of all their fighting and swearing and other such things. It's like taking care of a pair of overgrown children... Aha, it's exactly like that.

**Disclaimer:** I don't want to say it... cries Go look at the one in chapter one! cries

Enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

Harvey rolled his eyes as the two brothers continued to fight with each other. He knew he should have placed the two in separated rooms but he needed to talk to them at the same time, so he took the risk. Harvey didn't really think the two would yell and shout so much like this. He knew they had sibling rivalry but this was getting too insane that he was starting to get a headache. "Could you two shut up, for once?" he interjected.

"Holy shit! You're supposed to be fucking dead, you know?" Victor half shouted. He started to try and wiggled out of the ropes tied around his wrists and bit his lip when the rope scratched at his skin. However, despite the biting pain, Victor kept on trying to wiggle himself loose from his restraints.

"Do I look dead to you?"

**Chapter Nine**

"Not to sound a little like Victor right now, but yeah – you kind of do," Vaughn said with a grin. He and Victor snickered with each other at the same time, both biting their lip to stop from laughing.

"You two are just a pair of punks!" Harvey shouted angrily.

"I'm sorry," Victor quickly feigned a look of concern, his snickering smile turning upside down for a frown. "I can't hear you with that um, thing in front of your mouth… How about taking it off? _Breathe_ a little,"

Harvey growled impatiently as the two brothers snickered to themselves again. He took a step toward them as he pulled out a gun and got it ready for pulling the trigger. Both brothers stopped snickering and looked up at Harvey, their mood changing to a complete state of seriousness. Harvey grinned when he was finally able to gain the twins' attention. "I need a little help from you two,"

"Go _fuck_ yourself," Victor retorted quickly.

The gun in Harvey's hand spun around so that it was pointing to himself and he moved his finger away from the trigger and held the gun like it was a small club. He brought the gun down and the hard metal connected with Victor's left cheek, sending his head turning toward the right. All this was down within a blink of an eye and neither Vaughn nor Harvey were expecting what happened just seconds after.

Vaughn's head was turned to the right as well, the same red mark appearing on Victor's left cheek appearing on his as well. A small grin appeared on Harvey's face but he hid it quickly before the twins could notice it.

Victor and Vaughn breathed heavily as they snarled like rabid dogs. Victor spat out the blood that was rushing into his mouth in Harvey's direction before looking up at him with defiant eyes. However, when the two brothers looked up, both of their eyes were the same: a bright but pale shade of pink.

"Dammit Victor! Break the link!" Vaughn shouted angrily, snarling at the end of his sentence.

Victor ignored his brother and continued to stare at Harvey as he bared his blood stained teeth. "Vaughn over there is already working with the freak show Joker and I'm not going to work for anyone! Unlike you two morons, I'm actually _trying_ at a normal life,"

"Victor! Break the link!" Vaughn shouted again, "Break the _fucking_ link!"

Again Victor ignored his brother's loud demands.

Harvey flipped the gun back to pointing it toward the two, finger back on the trigger. "I just need a word with _you_, Victor,"

"Then why the fuck am I here?" Vaughn asked, his words slightly slurred from the blood build up in his mouth.

Harvey brought the gun toward Vaughn and pressed it against the young man's forehead. "Well, Victor?"

"I couldn't care less about what you do to him!" Victor yelled at Harvey but when he did his voice cracked and Harvey smiled in victory that Victor saw right away. "Oh shit!"

Victor blinked his eyes, their colour returning to their dark green shade. The red mark on Vaughn's face started to disappear and he sighed with relief. Then Victor looked like he had just been punched in the gut as he started to cough up blood. "Fuck!"

"I also know a few little secrets of yours…" Harvey pressed the gun harder against Vaughn's forehead, making the young man swear and curse some more from the pain. "Like the one about the girl you put into comatose,"

"Holy fuck, Victor! You kept her _alive_!" Vaughn struggled against his restraints again, the cold gun scratching against the skin of his forehead.

"If I flip my coin and get heads then I'll spare her, if I get tails then… well, you know what the opposite of alive is," Harvey chuckled when Victor bowed his head slowly and his body became less tense. Harvey was just about to throw his coin into the air when Victor looked back up at him.

"Leave her alone," Victor's voice sounded desperate and almost sad. His once overly active sailor mouth gone to only be replaced with sad, quivering lips. "Leave her alone,"

"Pussy," Vaughn whispered quietly but he also sounded just like Victor did.

"So you'll listen to me now?" Harvey asked even though he already knew the answer. He pulled the gun away from Vaughn's forehead and his hands went back to his sides. When Victor didn't respond but instead bowed his head low in defeat, Harvey grinned triumphantly. "Here's what you need to do,"

--

Batman turned on the communicator with a hurried flick as he looked around for Aidan. When he had returned she was gone, leaving only a row of broken glass windows and a few rattled attendees to the meeting. When he had asked Lucius about what had happened Lucius had just told him to go find her and as quickly as he could.

"_I've found that information you wanted on Victor and Vaughn Thorne,_" came Alfred's voice through the little speaker placed within his helmet by his ear.

"Then spit it out Alfred," Batman's patience at the people of Gotham was slowly starting to diminish. Almost every street was clogged with cars and other vehicles while all the sidewalks were crowded with a sea of people trying to run in all directions. Throughout the whole mess every single person felt the need to scream, shout nonsense, honk their horns, and do everything that would be irritating to one's ear.

"_Well, they are the only children of the late, but very wealthy, Mister Craig Thorne who died not too long ago. Their mother died giving birth to them, a Misses Jessica Thorne. They attended the best schools and were always at the top of their classes… And they are in the care of their current guardian, a very distant cousin to their mother and the only relate they know… Dr. Jonathan Crane_,"

"Scarecrow?"

If Batman wasn't irritated or annoyed before, then he definitely was now.

--

Aidan had jumped out through the nearby windows, floating steadily down of course, and was now making her way toward the closest site where one of the explosions had happened. There was a clear and easy path that she walked through as everyone and everything was moved to the side and out of her way through the use of her growing telekinesis.

Her once bright, sparkling garnet-hazel eyes were now looking a bit dull, a faint shade of dark chocolate, like she was just a lifeless zombie walking through the streets of Gotham. She walked with an evenly fast pace with her feet dragging behind her just a bit, making her seem even more like a zombie.

It took a while for the people around her to register what just happened after she had shoved them to the side without touching them. They stared at Aidan with a mixture of feelings: awe, curiosity, and fear. For some, one more than the other.

Aidan kept on walking, nothing else on her mind but to head over to where she was being called to. The pain in her mind hadn't gone away, becoming a throbbing pain in her head that pulsed loudly. She wasn't aware of that little voice in the back of her mind, tugging at her, telling her to stop and turn around. The voice telling her that she was walking right into the hands of danger.

And so, by ignoring that small voice, Aidan kept on walking and she was just a few more blocks away from the gaping crater in the middle of the street. In the intersection, the ground was uplifted so it looked like there was a small hill of cement there. She turned into the street suddenly and started to walk over the cars, hopping from one to the other to avoid walking on the street.

"Hey!" an older man shouted at her when she jumped onto the hood of his car. Aidan, who ignored him of course, just continued to hop from car to car. Luckily for her, she wore running shoes that weren't just made for a fashion sense.

Off in the distance the cackling, eerie laugh of the Joker's echoed and bounced off of the buildings. His laughter didn't seem like he was doing it really loud on purpose and caused everyone to become silent. Joker stood at the very stop of the cement hill, right at the edge before it went downward into the ground. He held a large machine gun in his hands, larger than the ones he usually had, and it looked like it was too heavy for any normal person but he looked like it was as light as a feather.

"Come, come! This way, this way!" he beckoned Aidan to come to him faster, jumping from one foot to the other as he saw her coming closer and closer. He crouched down to the ground and pulled his feet from beneath him, falling on his rear end and sitting right near the edge.

Aidan quickened her pace, breaking out into a slow run. The distance between her and Joker was closing quickly and Aidan was soon passed all of the cars and was now near the base of the cement hill. She looked up with glazed eyes at Joker, silently waiting for him to say something else to her.

Joker set the machine gun on his lap and wiggled where he seat to get comfortable against the cold, hard surface. He looked at Aidan with an eager smile, clapping his hands excitedly at her strange obedience. "Break it all!" he shouted, arms in the air, as he looked at all the buildings around him.

Silence was followed with his command. Everyone watched with fearful anticipation as Aidan just continued to stand there and stare at Joker. Seconds and soon minutes passed with no one daring to make a move or even breath loudly, afraid they might get the young woman's attention. A soft breeze blew over them all, the breeze making Aidan's hair dance and move along with it momentarily.

Joker looked at Aidan with impatience while take a few glances at the buildings around him. He was just about to shout the command at Aidan again when he noticed her concentrated look of frustration. And then, it finally happened.

The buildings at each corner of the intersection and further down the blocks shook and rattled from side to side. Cracks started to appear all over the building and that was when the bystanders started to scream again. Pieces of the buildings started to fall carelessly to the ground, breaking into smaller pieces. Dust and rubble now crowded the sidewalks and parts of the streets. The people who were still in their cars from shook rushed out and ran the other way.

More and more pieces of the buildings broke off to reveal that there were still people inside them. A few men and women fell with the cement chunks, some landing with the breath of life in them while others were crushed to the ground. Then it all happened like a domino affect. Once one building fell to the ground the one beside it started to crumble and it continued on and on again.

Joker jumped to his feet and spun around to watch all of it happening around him. "Oh!" he squealed happily, putting his hand near his ear to hear the screams much better. "Break it more! _Break it more_!" he shouted again and again, relishing the cries of terror that echoed within downtown Gotham. Joker stopped spinning around and faced Aidan again, her face still twisted in concentration. He started to walk down the hill, taking his sweet time as he walked toward Aidan.

Suddenly Batman came rushing by and tackled Aidan to the ground. The two rolled and tumbled away from where Aidan was standing a few seconds ago with Batman ending up on top of Aidan. Batman looked at Aidan's face, her eyes closed in light slumber from the sudden tackle, and his hand softly pushed a few stray hairs away from her face. He slipped something around her neck before getting up to his feet and glaring at Joker, standing protectively beside Aidan.

The buildings stopped shaking as quickly as they had started. The loose pieces from them falling to the ground, dust scattering over the sidewalks and cars. The same gentle breeze brushed by again, making Batman's long cape move along with the wind behind him.

"You – you – you finally made it to the… to the party!" Joker fixed his hair and patted himself off to get of some of the dust that had clung onto his dark and dirty purple suit. "So uhm… uh… you look nice," Joker smiled sheepishly while his trigger happier finger get ready behind him.

Batman snarled before rushing toward Joker. He took a swing at the Joker with his right fist and collided with the side of his face. Joker stumbled back a few steps but quickly regained his balance, sidestepping another swing from Batman. Just as Batman was going to take another swing Joker pulled up the large machine gun he still held onto and smashed it hard against Batman's head.

Batman tried to shake it off quickly but Joker jabbed him with the machine gun again. However, before Joker took make another hit on Batman, Batman grabbed the machine gun and pulled it out from Joker's hands. He threw it as far as he could and turned around fast enough to dodge the blade Joker swung right by his face.

Joker kept on trying to slash Batman in the face with his small dagger but the other man just kept on dodging him with so much ease and grace that it looked like Batman did this everyday. Finally Batman grabbed onto Joker's forearm to cease their movements but Joker suddenly kneed him in the stomach.

However, Batman didn't seem fazed by the hit at all and threw Joker to the ground. He stood over Joker like a dark, leaning and menacing tower. His chest rose and fell as he took in deep breaths, furious eyes glaring at Joker. He took a chance to turn around and make sure that Aidan was still there and okay but unfortunately for him, Joker took that chance to jump to his feet and punch Batman right in the chest.

"_Ow_!" Joker cried out, shaking his hand to try and get rid of the sort of expected pain. "Oh!" Joker ducked just in time for Batman to miss him by a centimetre. "So much _rage_ Batman!" Joker started to laugh as he skipped backwards from Batman, cleverly dodging each swing the other man tried to land on him. "So – so what's next? Ahahaha! I don't uh… I don't think fist fights are uh… are uh... doing much for me,"

Batman immediately calmed down as Joker's words stuck to him, realizing that he had let his anger get the better of him. He frowned when Joker started to laugh again, but he was sure that Joker wasn't laughing at him in particular. "I win Joker, she's out of your grasp now," Batman breathed out, his chest still rising and falling very noticeably.

"Uh no… I think uh… I – _I_ win," Joker looked to the side with his eyes staring up and lips in a small pout. He rocked back and forth from his toes to his heels and tapped a finger against his chin. His other hand was now deep inside his pocket, making Batman very alert in case Joker pulled something out. "Yeah – yeah… I – I – I won… I won,"

"Don't try and use your psycho-babble on me Joker," Batman threatened with a low growl. "I'm not going to fall for your tricks,"

"Tricks? Tricks! I – I don't do _tricks_! I – I… I do jokes!" Joker stopped rocking back and forth to laugh through that large grin that would never seem to leave his face. "Life… Life is al – always so much more fun with – with – with a joke!" once again, that same laugh echoed in Batman's ears. "Come on, _smile_! _Why so serious_!?" Joker screamed, his brows coming together and a frown now donning his face.

However, Batman continued to scowl. Instead he walked over to Joker and pulled him up by the collar. Joker was lifted up into the air by about a foot or so and was held up there as Batman held him up by one hand. Joker's hands went up to the fist gripping onto his collar and held onto it to push himself up so he wouldn't choke. "What are – what're you gonna do Batman? You – you know… we always seem to uhm… always seem to find ourselves in uh… in a little tangle, hm?"

"Nyah!" Joker managed to say when Batman shook him roughly, his head moving like a large boggle head. "I never really under – understood why they would _always_ sh – shake the person! It – it just makes me want to – to uh… to lay down,"

"I _really_ don't like you and I'm always considering breaking my rule for you, just this once," Batman lifted Joker higher into the air and was now holding up with both hands by the collar. "But if I do, I'll end up just like you…"

"And h – here I thought we were best friends!" Joker looked down his nose to stare at Batman in the eyes. He licked his lips a few times and wiggled his feet about before he started to speak again. "And – and you _did_ break your rule! You didn't think I – I wouldn't see that little trink – trinket you slipped on her, did you? Tut, tut, tut; shame, shame Batman,"

"It's only there to keep her powers stable, I didn't kill her," Batman explained, though he didn't really know why he would try and explain himself to Joker.

"That's like telling a bird it can't – that it can't fly anymore!" Joker half shouted, eyes going wide for emphasizing the word 'fly'. "You didn't kill her, but you _did_ break her,"

Batman let go of Joker's collar and let him fall to the ground with a loud thud. Joker groaned when he landed, rubbing his rear end in pain as he pushed himself up to his feet. "And you should really pay attention to her like I do," Joker muttered and pointed to Aidan.

Batman turned his head to her direction and saw Victor bent down beside her. The smallest prick of jealousy hit him when he saw that Victor was whispering something in her ear, even though Aidan was clearly still sleeping. The young man glanced up and smiled warily at Batman and Joker. Victor scooped Aidan up into his arms in that traditional bridal style, standing up straight.

Batman made a move to run over to Aidan but stopped when Victor shouted for him not to come near. "Victor, what do you think you're doing?"

"That's Victor?" came Joker's interested voice. "Wow!" He looked the boy up and down, quickly taking note of the younger man's blood stained clothes. He also took quick note of how much he and a certain someone else he knew looked so much alike.

"Know how I said I can 'influence' anyone's mood and emotion? Well, if you come near me I'll make Aidan fall so deep into depression that she'll want to commit suicide and I really don't want to do that," Victor's voice was laced with a hint of regret and sadness but the look in his eyes told Batman that he would do it if it was absolutely necessary.

"Oh wow, what – what a turn of events," Joker quipped, gong back to rocking back and forth from his toes to his heels with his hands folded behind him.

Batman ignored Joker's little side comments and turned all his focus on Victor who held Aidan close to his chest. "Victor, let her go," Batman extended a hand forward, like he was trying to grab onto Aidan from where he stood, but pulled it back to his side when Victor took a step back.

"Harvey sends a message," Victor shouted, raising his voice because of the sudden strong gust of wind that came by.

"Harvey?" came Batman's stunned voice.

"Oh! Harvey's back? Per – perfect!" came Joker's interested and excited words.

"He says he'll be taking Aidan but he won't kill her; he wants you to feel what he felt when he knew the person he cared about was right there but he couldn't do a thing about it – that's what he said! Don't shoot the messenger," Victor took another unsure and uneasy step backward, holding Aidan closer to his body.

"Hey! She – she's not his! She's mine!" Joker whined and stomped his foot, his lips turning into a frowning pout. "Look what you did bat-face!"

"Victor, just let her go," Batman tried again as he took a very small step forward. "I can get you out of whatever Harvey's done to con you into this,"

"I'm sorry… I can't," Victor took another step back, carefully avoiding the small rocks around him.

"I think I prefer uh… V – Vaughn better… He's got some – some backbone," Joker muttered, still pouting. "Speaking of the little runt… Where – where is he?" Joker started to turn his head around but only saw empty cars and rubble.

Suddenly small lightning bolts could be seen trailing along the floor, quickly making its way to where Batman, Joker, and Victor were conversing. The sky started to darken as gray clouds quickly covered the sun, the whole city becoming dark as night during the day. The same strong gust of wind returned but was much stronger than before that Victor held onto Aidan tighter because he was afraid she would be taken up with the wind.

The lightning bolts stopped a few feet behind Joker and started to rise out from the ground and form the figure of a man. Vaughn's body started to appear from the lightning until he was completely there and completely solid – not some sort of illusion or holograph. Vaughn fixed his hair and walked up beside Joker. "Sorry for being late," he muttered before glaring at his brother.

Victor bit his lip and looked from Batman to Joker. His eyes went to Vaughn and the two looked like they were communicating with each other without words. Victor's desperate eyes looked into Vaughn's strong, determined ones. Suddenly Victor shouted, "Now Vaughn!"

"Gotcha," Vaughn slammed his fist hard against the ground and the sound of thunder followed immediately after. Suddenly he, Joker, and Batman were surrounded by a string of lightning bolts that went from the ground and straight into the sky. Joker didn't seem to mind it at all; he actually seemed pleased by the suddenness of the events. However, Batman walked over to Vaughn and grabbed him by the shirt yet Vaughn only looked at him with a bored expression.

Out from the corner of his eye, Batman saw Victor turn and run with Aidan held tightly in his arms. Batman let go of Vaughn and turned to Joker. "What the hell is going on?" he roared.

Joker shrugged his shoulders with an awkward tilt of his head. "I would – I wouldn't know," he half lied.

Vaughn snapped his fingers and the lightning cage disappeared.

Batman continued to stare at Joker as his hands clenched and unclenched repeatedly, dark eyes becoming even darker. He turned away from Joker and started to walk away, his steps heavy.

"Let's play a game!" Joker shouted out to Batman.

"I'm not playing your games Joker…" Batman replied through a low half growl half snarl.

"Who – whoever gets her first gets to… gets to uh… _keep her_," Joker smiled when Batman spun around to stare at him, clapping his hands when he caught the 'bat's' attention. "D – do you want to uhm, want to play?"

**End Chapter**

**A/N:** Hey there, I'm back again. So, how did you like that extremely long scene? Was it too... something? Here's a little heads up now. There shall be much, much bloodshed in the upcoming chapters. Much more swearing (mostly from those twins). And a lot of unreachable love (Aww!).


	10. Chapter Ten

**A/N:** Hey guys! First, I just have to tell you guys to do something. Go to this link: http/ /uk.youtube. com/watch?vw2yv8aT0UFc (Remember to take out the spaces) It's a spoof on the Joker Interrogation Scene. If you haven't seen it yet, then you really should. If you have, go watch it again! My sides hurt so much from laughing. Anyway... Another thing I want to say (and also shamelessly self advertise), actually... never mind! Just ask if you want to know or want any of 'em ;;

To Fuyu Tenshi: Oh man... I love how the Joker stutters. Sometimes, when I'm writing and he's talking, I would say it out loud and stutter just to make sure that it makes sense. And sometimes, I think I'm starting to even talk like him in normal day life. I talked to my friend like that just the other night... Lol, I'm weird...

To juicycouturevalerie: Hehe, I'm glad that you're liking it more and more everyday. I'm getting more exciting about writing it everyday! And I'm glad you like the characters too, along with Joker's little games :D

To themethmatician: Sorry about your odd wrist problem. I get odd hand/finger problems when I get too cold (though I'm sure it's like that for many). They can't even move when they're cold, so I'd be forced to type with only two fingers (one from each hand) :o I feel like this story is just starting too, a little. I just wanted to have people know the whole "back story" of Batman, Joker, and Aidan love triangle before all the fighting starts. And then some more romance stuff but it might make a few people sad. I'm a big sap for sad love stories so... beware! ;;

**Disclaimer:** I do not anyone or anything of the Batman line/story. However, everything else is mine - even these words! And there's someone here who is half mine, but I'm not sure which half :P

Okay, enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

"Let's play a game!" Joker shouted out to Batman.

"I'm not playing your games Joker…" Batman replied through a low half growl half snarl.

"Who – whoever gets her first gets to… gets to uh… _keep her_," Joker smiled when Batman spun around to stare at him, clapping his hands when he caught the 'bat's' attention. "D – do you want to uhm, want to play?"

**Chapter Ten**

It had been several hours since the whole incident in Gotham and the sky was still dark as night, if not darker. A large chunk of the buildings and roads of the downtown district in Gotham were in ruins. Many of the cars were all towed away from the destroyed sites to clear the way for workers - anyone who was willing to try and fix the destruction - to come through.

Many civilians cried and mourned loudly at the news of their friends, family, and loved ones who were killed during it all. The ones who were near by and were lucky enough to survive it all were taken to the MCU as witness and each one said the same thing.

They had all identified a young woman with auburn-red hair who was working with the Joker and was the one who caused all the destruction at the order of the Joker. Once the word had spread that it was that young woman who caused all the destruction and took the lives of many, the citizens felt that the woman either be sent to jail or killed.

Commissioner Gordon sighed dejected as he tried to ignore the screams and shouts from outside the MCU. When he had tried to explain that the young woman wasn't herself, that she wouldn't hurt a fly, the people didn't care. They all said that she was far too dangerous to be allowed to roam the streets of Gotham. However, Gordon still refused to do anything about it and changed his main goal to getting Joker and now Two Face.

Gordon had been visited by Batman not too long and told him that shocking news. At first, Gordon couldn't believe it would have been possible but from the look on Batman's face he couldn't help but believe him. Batman had also demanded that Gordon not tell anyone whom that auburn-red haired woman was, his voice making his words sound more like he held a threat behind them.

Meanwhile, through all of the chaos and hatred, Bruce Wayne was being followed by a swarm of reporters. He had kindly donated a large sum of money to help fix the roads and the buildings – no one would have done it without all that money. Bruce just smiled and nodded whenever a photographer would snap a picture and he would give very non-detailed responses to the reporters.

Bruce suddenly found himself in a predicament when more and more reporters started to swarm around him and prevented him from getting to his car and getting back to his penthouse. He jumped suddenly when he felt a hand brush against and grab onto his rear end for a quick second. Bruce became incredibly uncomfortable, slowly starting to think that donating that money wasn't such a good idea.

Bruce sucked in his stomach and held in his breath and pointed to some other direction that wasn't toward him. "Look! There's my girlfriend!" he shouted loudly, his voice going over all of the other reporters' voices.

"Girlfriend?" the majority of them said in a low whisper before running in the direction of where Bruce had pointed. Bruce took that chance to run toward his car that had only a few feet away. He quickly slid into the driver's seat of his car and stomped onto the gas pedal before the reporters realized he had tricked them.

"I'm more afraid of taking on the media than anything else…" Bruce mumbled to himself. He smiled and waved as he passed the crowd of reporters, laughing at their surprised faces as they realized that there was no girlfriend headed their way. Bruce pressed onto the gas pedal harder and zoomed through the streets that weren't crowded with cars or pieces of a building and headed straight to his makeshift bat-cave.

He traveled in through the secret way that was mostly made for his Tumbler and Batpod to go through and, as soon as the car was parked off to the side, he sent to work to figure out where Victor could have gone. "Like an insect," Bruce reminded himself, "Pheromones sent through the air," he muttered again as he typed away at the keyboard in front of him.

His eyes darted from the different screens and the keyboard is typed on. A small grin started to appear on his face when he was slowly achieving what he was trying to do. On the screens showed a black and white view of the city, with the black as a base background and the white just lines to indicate what were buildings and streets and other things. Bruce continued to fiddle with the keyboards until a yellow-gold dust-like image appeared on the screen. The dust was scattered all over the city and the colour varied between lighter or darker tones.

"There is _always_ something left behind in some way or form…" Bruce muttered happily as he stared at the screens, "I just need to pinpoint which one is Victor's insect-like bread crumbs,"

"Maybe you should try and find the one that is more 'human' than the others,"

Bruce turned around and smiled at Alfred as the old man came walking toward him. Alfred brought a small basket of baked goods and set it on the only spot of the table that wasn't being occupied. He pulled out a small croissant and handed it over to Bruce who gladly accepted it. "Have you seen the news lately, Master Bruce?"

Bruce shook his head quickly, a piece of the croissant sticking out from his mouth. He chewed it quickly so he could speak and swallowed with a loud gulp. "I don't think I want to know about anything else right now, Alfred,"

"Of course sir, of course," Alfred nodded his head politely before picking up a croissant for himself.

Bruce grinned at Alfred before sitting back in his seat and fiddling with the keyboard again. "Good idea with the human thing, Alfred," Bruce said with a mouth full of croissant. He typed quickly and pretty soon there was only one shade of that yellow-gold dust floating around through the city on the screens. Bruce looked at it closely while he reached for another croissant from the basket.

The dust was practically everywhere in the city but there were some places that had stronger traces than the other ones that looked like they were starting to fade away. He made the view of the city move away so that it would be an aerial view and examined what he saw. Bruce had to decide which paths Victor had taken that seemed to be different from the rest, his eyes darting all around to each screen.

Then he saw something very interesting that he had wished he had saw a little faster. There was a very thin trail that led a little out of the city. Bruce zoomed into that spot and changed the view so that it now showed real images and then frowned at what he saw.

"What's wrong, Master Bruce?" Alfred asked when he noticed the small frown on his young master's face.

"It's an old power plant, and I know he would have chosen it for a reason," Bruce said with a sad and worried tone of voice.

--

Victor slowed down the stolen car he had taken as he neared the old nuclear power plant just outside of the city limits. He glanced behind him to see if there was anyone there before glancing to the passenger seat where Aidan was sleeping soundlessly due to his little 'gift'. He stepped out from the car and went around to pull Aidan out from the car and carry her inside.

He glanced around him as he entered through the large doors, seeing many henchmen sitting around and playing little games to pass the time. They were all wearing oxygen masks, making Victor bite his lip anxiously. He kept on walking, tightening his hold around Aidan each step he took.

Victor passed through a few doors, getting some odd stares from the henchmen just lounging around. "This guy has more than Joker…" Victor commented in a whisper, speaking to himself aloud. "Wonder what he used to con them…"

Victor stopped walking when he entered the main office of the power plant. The lights were off and he was starting to wonder if all bad guys were nocturnal like vampires. He stood in the middle of the room with his back obviously facing the way he had come in and also the only way out. He moved Aidan around in his arms so that he could be a little more comfortable, from having to carry her for so long. "Hello?" he said loudly, getting annoyed when nothing was happening for a few minutes.

"Relax kid, just sit down over there," came a woman's sultry voice from somewhere in the room.

Victor glanced around him with a single questioning brow raised. However, he was strangely more annoyed than surprised at the sudden voice. "'Kid'? First of all, I'm sure I'm taller than you and second, you don't sound _that_ much older than I am – and you can even be younger than I am!" he pointed out bitterly, still standing in the centre of the room.

He heard of someone pushing a chair back that was then followed by the sound of footsteps coming toward him. Victor's eyes widened as the woman came out from the shadows and the first thing he noticed was the woman's choice of clothing. It was… very revealing, more than anything else. Her hair was long enough to reach her mid-back and she twirled a key around in her hands. Then he noticed that she wasn't wearing a mask like the others.

Victor quickly turned his head away from her just when someone entered the room from behind him. He looked too see that it was Harvey and wanted to gag when the other man smiled at him through the oxygen mask – or, at least, he thought it was a smile.

"I see you've met Siri," Harvey walked passed Victor and flipped on the light switch. "Siri, this is Victor,"

Siri grinned and bowed her head at Victor as she leaned back on the desk behind her. Harvey went to sit in the only chair in the room, Victor assuming that Siri was once sitting there. "Hi Victor," Siri greeted, her voice soft and very feminine.

Victor ignored her. "Where do you want her to go?" he asked Harvey as he tried to make sure that his eyes didn't stray toward the other woman in the room who was in held protectively in his arms.

"Keep her sleeping," Harvey ordered, waving his hand at Victor as a signal for the young man to leave.

"What? 'Keep her sleeping'? Are you fucking_ insane_? Do you know what that could do to her?" Victor yelled angrily, veins appearing and pulsing at the sides of his neck and his temples. "Do you know what that could do to _me_?"

"Siri, show him where to put her," Harvey spun around in his chair so that his back was now facing the extremely angry Victor.

Siri hopped away from the desk and was suddenly in front of Victor. The green-eyed man jumped back in surprise and held onto Aidan tighter in reflex. "Holy shit!" Victor shouted in response to Siri's sudden teleporting in the room.

She appeared in front of him and then appeared beside the desk again. Siri kept her smile on and crossed her arms over her chest. "Follow me," she said before suddenly appearing by the door behind Victor.

"Do you know how to walk like normal people or are you just naturally deformed?" Victor muttered angrily as he followed her. He watched her teleporting in a sort of zigzag pattern in front of him, stopping every few seconds to wait for him to come a little closer. He grumbled when Siri ignored his little comment and just continued to grin at him. "You know, you're not wearing a mask," Victor said.

"I don't need one; you're not as threatening as you think, you know," Siri mocked with that grin still on her face. She laughed lightly when she heard Victor mumble something beneath his breath.

Suddenly, Victor's eyes slowly started to turn toward Siri's clothes again and he was more curious than anything else. If her hair hadn't been so long then Victor could have seen her exposed backside, he mused to himself. He shook his head before he thought anything else and was thankful that he saw Siri standing in front of a large and very thick metal door.

"Here's her room," Siri extended her arms to the side and pointed into the room with her hands.

Victor was just about to enter when Siri stopped him by grabbing onto his arm. "If you're thinking of staying in there with her, don't," she said was a low warning.

"I'm not leaving her like this," Victor looked down at Siri and then looked down at Aidan who was still sleeping soundlessly.

"Suit yourself," Siri let go of Victor and shrugged her shoulders at him with an uninterested stare. "There's no way out of that room so if you need anything just scream out my name," Siri winking knowingly at Victor, hoping he would get the double meaning. However, she didn't stick around long enough to see as she had teleported behind the young man and pushed him in, closing and locking the door behind him. "Ta-ta!" Siri screamed from the other side of the door.

Victor went stumbling into the room but quickly regained his balance before he could fall on his face. He looked around the room and saw a single bed, a single chair, and a lonely bucket in the corner. He placed Aidan gently on the bed and then brought his hands to his neck, rubbing them to get rid of the tension. "I stopped releasing the little uh… whatever, you _should_ be waking up soon,"

Victor felt something warm start to run out from his nose and he brought a finger up to wipe it away. He frowned when he saw that it was fresh, warm blood that was running down from his nose. His head suddenly began dizzy and he sat down on the chair, bringing it beside the bed, before he could fall over. He grinned and blinked his eyes open, their colour now a light pink. "Linking!"

--

"Son of a bitch!" Vaughn lost his footing and fell against the wall beside him, his hand going up to his head, as everything around him seemed to spin. His other hand went up to his upper lip when he felt something warm running down from his nose, eyes blazing with fire when he saw blood. "Bastard…"

"You – you – you're not talking about _me_, are -are you?" Joker hopped over to where Vaughn was leaning against the wall for support. He looked at him curiously, lips forming in the shape of an 'o' when he saw Vaughn's heavy nose bleed. "Maybe you should uhm… maybe you should get that uh, checked out," Joker pointed to his nose when he spoke and smiled when Vaughn glared daggers at him.

Joker turned around on his heel and started to skip away, swinging his arms back and forth happily. "We must be near then!" He turned around when he didn't hear Vaughn's footsteps following him, shaking his finger in a disapproving manner at the younger man.

Vaughn pushed himself from the wall and tried to follow Joker with uneasy steps. His head spun and throbbed in pain and his vision was like one's when they were completely drunk. "Victor's not too far…" Vaughn said with slurred words, his hand still holding onto his head like he was almost afraid it would just fall off. He kept his eyes closed as little time as he could and whenever he did open them all he would see were just big blurs of colour. "I hate Victor…"

"Y – you know!" Joker walked back over to Vaughn and wrapped an arm around the younger man's shoulders. He dragged Vaughn along with him as they walked through the back streets of Gotham, a place that many would try to avoid. The streets were covered with black slime and dirt and smelled like it should be the sewers but Joker seemed to be the only one of the two who didn't mind it at all. "When this – when this is all over I… we… uh… you can be my um, my adoptive son! I've all – always wanted an heir! But – but we're gonna have to uh, to uh… to do something about your face,"

"_What_?" Vaughn didn't understand a thing that Joker was saying and didn't know if he should stress his mind to try and understand. He tried to keep as sturdy as he could until the effects of Victor using his powers too much would wear off. Vaughn hated the fact that Victor was able to 'link' them together to feel the other's pain. "You want me to be _what_?"

"Maybe just… fix your…" Joker started to poke at spots on Vaughn's face, tracing around his face as he imagined Vaughn with a great, big grin on his face. "Y – yeah… Just a little… Just a little fix,"

Vaughn squirmed out from Joker's arm as soon as the fuzziness in his head started to disappear. He quickly brushed himself off, patting away at his khaki coloured suit like a little girl who thought she felt a spider crawling on her.

"Maybe you're a little uh… a little too serious to be my um, heir," Joker started to walk again, leaving Vaughn alone to keep trying to get rid of whatever it was he was trying to get rid of.

"I am _not_ your heir!" Vaughn shouted in disgust before catching up to Joker. "Can we just hurry up and get this over with? Victor's pretty out of it now, so he can't use his powers for a way out,"

Joker opened up his purple jacket and searched one of the hidden pockets, his hand digging deep and moving around. When he found whatever it was, he pulled it out in one swift motion to reveal a lightweight silver automatic handgun. He then reached into the other side of the jacket and pulled out a large shotgun.

Vaughn's jaw dropped when he saw the shotgun come out from Joker's hidden pocket. "How did you…" he couldn't finish his question fast enough because Joker suddenly stopped walking as they neared the corner and peered around the building while throwing the small handgun to Vaughn.

Then Vaughn heard the loud roar of an old car's engine as it neared the corner. The old looking pick-up truck stopped right in front of them and Joker ran happily into it, Vaughn following as soon as his shock wore off.

An elderly man drove the truck with Joker sitting with him at the front. Joker turned around in his seat but suddenly turned back around to buckle in his seatbelt and then turned back around to face Vaughn. "Hey, hey! Yours too!" Joker said, pointing at the seatbelt with the tip of the shotgun. "Where to kid?"

"Out – outside of Gotham," Vaughn was still amazed at what had just happened. First, Joker pulled out a large shotgun from his pocket that looked incredibly heavy yet he bounced around like he had nothing in his pockets. Second, everything Joker did was like clockwork. Third, he just realized that Joker said he wanted him to be his heir. "Wait! Heir?!"

--

So this is how things were happening at exactly the same time.

Batman raced through the darkening streets of Gotham on his Batpod, his long cape flowing whipping about behind him because of such high speeds he was traveling at. A small computer screen was laid out in front of him and he glanced at it every now and then to make sure that he was heading the right. Taking the shortest short cut he could manage, of course.

Joker hopped up and down in his seat at the passenger's side while he stuck his head out and shook it like a dog would. He would reach out and hit whatever was reachable with his shotgun, shouting triumphantly when the two objects would collide. Vaughn sat in the back and slouched in his seat, strangely feeling embarrassed that he was riding with the Joker.

Batman and Joker neared their destination point quickly, both the same amount of distance away. It was like watching a two-man race and knowing that coming in second meant they came last and too late.

The minutes ticked as each second passed by. And from the looks of it, it seemed like both were going to make it into a tie.

--

"Hey, you're finally awake,"

Aidan blinked tired eyes awake, rubbing them with the back of her hand before fully opening them. She glanced around the room, wincing when the bright light hurt her eyes when she looked its way. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and let her eyes slowly adjust to the new lighting while leaning her back against the wall behind her.

When her eyes were finally able to focus, the first thing she saw was a green-eyed man sitting near her. She jumped but quickly rid of the shock when he didn't look threatening.

"I was starting to worry that I might've let you off too late," the green-eyed man, Victor, ran his fingers through his hair and sighed in relief. "So, how are you?"

"Who are you?" Aidan asked him in a non-scared, non-threatening way.

Victor looked at her, confused, but then quickly remembered that he had removed himself from her memory. He extended his arm out toward her and smiled, "How about just reading my head?" Victor suggested.

Aidan hesitantly brought her hand near his and grabbed onto it, shaking his hand in the process. They stayed like that for a bit, shaking the other's hand, until Aidan pulled away with a small frown. "I can't,"

"You can't? You 'can't' what?"

"I can't read your head," Aidan grabbed onto Victor's hand and tried again, concentrating a bit more. "I still can't read it…"

"I wonder what Batman did to you," Victor reached forward and held onto the necklace he noticed around her neck.

"What do you mean?" Aidan asked innocently and brought her eyes down to see what Victor was holding onto. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, removing Victor's hands and pulling up the necklace closer to her eyes for closer examination. "He put this on me?"

"Well, the last time we saw each other, you didn't have that on before so I just sort of assumed that your boyfriend gave it to you," Victor crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back as he settled more into his small chair.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Aidan shouted reflexively and a little too fast that made Victor grin at her. She turned her focus back to the necklace and poked at it. "This is what they used to use to dull a psychic's power back down to an infant's level," Aidan stared into the sea blue gem that was within a tear shaped charm of the necklace. "You have to take it off!" she jumped from her spot on the bed and closer to Victor, pulling the necklace closer to him.

"Why me?" Victor yelped.

"Please?" Aidan begged, her eyes watering up as tears threatened to come out.

Victor frowned as he reached behind Aidan's neck to take off the necklace. However, as soon as his fingers touched it he received a small but very painful shock that went up his whole arm. Victor brought his hand to his chest and stared at the necklace with an evil glare. "What the hell was that?"

"Oh no!" Aidan fell back on the bed and lay down on her side.

"I guess your boyfriend wants to keep a tight leash on you," Victor said, trying to say his words in a joking manner despite him being in pain.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Aidan blushed furiously and buried her face into the bed, her hand still clutching onto the necklace.

"Whatever floats your boat – what about Joker? I heard that you guys…" Victor joked, laughing when Aidan let go of the necklace to plug her ears.

"_Neither are my boyfriends_!" Aidan shouted into the bed.

**End Chapter**


	11. Chapter Eleven

**A/N:** Hey there, another note. Sorry if I haven't updated in a while... Okay, it seems like a while to me... A few couple of days is a lot! Anyway, I hope you guys are still into the story because I'm still having a lot of fun writing it. If I haven't done it before, I would like to thank everyone who has been reading so far! If I have, then I thank you again :P

To Fuyu Tenshi: Haha, yeah, I can see someone like Bruce Wayne trying to trick the media/reporters only when they really need to get somewhere. And the twins are very... odd o.O

To randy33: Thank you for reading and thanks for the compliment :) I hope you keep on reading!

**Disclaimer:** Wah! (Go back to chapter one if you want disclaimer)

And now... Enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

"I guess your boyfriend wants to keep a tight leash on you," Victor said, trying to say his words in a joking manner despite him being in pain.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Aidan blushed furiously and buried her face into the bed, her hand still clutching onto the necklace.

"Whatever floats your boat – what about Joker? I heard that you guys…" Victor joked, laughing when Aidan let go of the necklace to plug her ears.

"Neither are my boyfriends!" Aidan shouted into the bed.

**Chapter Eleven**

_CRASH_!

The sky was now completely covered with dark, gray clouds and left no trace that the blue sky even existed. The rain had started to fall lightly, not so much that it would cause anything with wheels to swerve over to the side. The thunder drummed within the clouds and the lightning flashed brightly, signaling that heavy rainfall was soon to come.

In the middle of the rain, just a few yards away from the large power plant, Batman and Joker stared each other gun like one of those old time western movies. However, in this situation, only one had a gun – more like shotgun – while the other had enhanced speed, strength, and endurance on his side. They stood far apart from each other, almost the same distance between them and the power plant.

Then the menacing clown with the heavy shotgun in his hand started to laugh. His back arched and his head rolled back and he shut his eyes as the rain continued to fall. All the make-up on his face started to slowly drip off and he quickly lowered his head again, to avoid the water from the sky, and managed to keep much of the make-up on yet was still laughing.

The masked vigilante dared not to move, budge, or even blink. His whole body was tense as he waited for the other man to make a move first. His feet were spread apart just a bit, indicating that he would stand his ground no matter what. His breathing was evenly spaced but still heavy and his hands were clenched in incredibly tight fists.

Neither one looked like they were going to make a move any time soon. The two just continued to stare each other down; one hoping their stare was more threatening than the other while the other just kept laughing.

Another rumble of thunder came but neither one seemed fazed by it. Meanwhile, Vaughn stood impatiently beside the now empty pick-up truck. He had placed rubbed gloves onto his hands to avoid his lightning bolts from turning back and shocking him instead beside of how soaked he was. Vaughn cracked his knuckles, little sparks of lightning running around his fingers.

_CRASH_!

"Oh!" Joker jumped at that sound of thunder, finally ending his and Batman's almost never ending staring contest. He started to laugh a bit more, his body shaking from the intensity of his laughter. "Okay, okay! You – you win that one!" Joker said in between fits of laughter.

Another roar of thunder sounded.

Joker jumped again.

Batman snarled like a ferocious beast about to attack its prey. He remained where he stood, watching Joker's movements very carefully. A gust of wind blew by that was strong enough to lift up his wet cape and make it whip about before the wind disappeared altogether.

"Go inside Vaughn," Joker stopped laughing unexpectedly and began to glare at Batman with the same intense and anger stare.

"But!" Vaughn protested, stepping forward with his one hand crackling with lightning.

"_Go inside Vaughn_!" Joker screamed, his words sounding more like a growl when they came out from his lips.

"Fuck man!" Vaughn shouted as he stomped his way over to the doors of the power plant. The lightning around his hands came together at his palms and it shot it forward toward the ground just in front of the doors. A loud bang, sounding just like the thunder, was heard and a few henchmen rushed out the doors.

However, Batman still stayed in the same spot.

"So… I see that – that we are at uh… at uh… at an impasse, my little… _flying rodent_," Joker cocked the shotgun and brought the trigger back to his hand, all with one hand. "What – oh what, shall we do now?"

Suddenly Joker fired his shotgun, aiming right for Batman's chest, but missed when this target spun to the side and then started to run toward him. Joker cocked the shotgun again but was too late to fire for Batman had gotten too close for him to aim at. Batman grabbed onto the shotgun and pulled it out of Joker's hands easily, throwing it to the side after bending the tip downward.

However, when Batman had turned his head to throw the shotgun away, Joker had jumped onto his back and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. "Ha – have you heard the… the news late – lately?" Joker whispered near his ear before Batman grabbed onto him and threw him hard onto the ground.

"There is no use with you, is there?" Batman crouched down to the ground and grabbed onto the front of Joker's shirt, pushing and keeping him there on the ground.

The rain around them began to pour down harder, so much so that the rain was making a low 'pitter patter' noise when it hit the ground. The wind had picked up and were much more stronger than the few that came by before. Batman's cape whipped around him, as did Joker's loose hair while some stuck onto his face.

"I – I should really get some of that uh, some of that waterproof stuff," Joker said, commenting on the make-up on his face that was starting to look very runny.

Batman lifted Joker up only to throw him as far away as he could from the plant. Joker rolled for a bit when he landed, laughing as he did. He looked up in time to see Batman rushing toward the power plant and frowned when his flying rodent friend seemed to have totally forgotten about him. "H – hey!" Joker shouted.

Joker got up to his feet quickly and started to run toward the power plant as well. He slipped for a moment, the heavy rain becoming too much for the ground to absorb it all. "H – hey!" Joker shouted again as he tried to catch up to Batman.

--

Vaughn got rid of the henchmen outside easily; just having to throw a few lightning bolts here and there. Because of his constant throwing of lightning bolts, fire had started inside the power plant. He stopped throwing bolts around at the first sign of fire and settled with walking around the power plant, his hands folded behind him neatly. The fire-red light flickered in Vaughn's deep blue eyes, making them seem almost like a dark purple.

"Victor!" Vaughn called out as he walked through the power plant, "_Victor_! Where are you little brother?"

Suddenly, within a blink of an eye, a young, smaller woman than Vaughn appeared not too far away from him. She stared at him curiously before nudging somewhere above her with her head.

Vaughn looked up with moving his head and saw Harvey getting ready to leave the plant, looking a bit too calm despite the fact that the power plant was slowly going to burn as the fire spread slowly. "And who are you?"

"Siri Mariotte, at your service!" Siri bowed politely in a little curtsy to Vaughn.

"Where's Victor?" Vaughn half shouted, almost like he was trying to make sure that Harvey could hear him from where he was.

Unfortunately Victor's question was never answered for Batman chose that moment to enter. Vaughn quickly ran off to the side to hide and Siri teleported away. Batman didn't waste anytime standing there and was already in a fast sprint. He didn't really know where he was going but trusted his instincts, oddly enough.

Joker entered the building a few minutes after Batman did and was in awe as soon as he saw the fire. "_Oh_! Fire!" he exclaimed. He saw Vaughn at the corner of his eye with his hand pointing into a certain direction and mouthing the words "that way". Joker laughed at himself and then started to run in the direction Vaughn as pointed him to.

Joker soon saw that familiar black cape in front of him and quickened his pace. He skidded to a sudden stop when he saw Batman stop in front of a thick door. Joker started to fan himself off when the heat of the fire started to spread and was getting closer to where he and Batman were standing.

Batman was too focused on trying to figure out how to get through the door that he hadn't noticed Joker standing right behind him. He pulled out a few small pebble shaped bombs and stuck them onto the door around the hinges. Batman quickly ran over to the side, making Joker run over to the other side when he noticed Batman run and duck for cover.

The bombs went off and the door fell down to the ground with a loud thud. Batman then noticed Joker and the growing fire behind him when he stood up to go into the room. He and Joker stared each other down, much like they had done outside, for a while before both dashed for the gaping hole where the door used to be.

The two reached the doors at the same time but noticeably avoided coming in contact with one another.

Aidan had backed her self up against the wall opposite of the door while Victor stood beside her. The young green-eyed man looked from Joker to Batman and smiled nervously when he saw their sort of angry faces. "I – I – I – I…" he stuttered mercilessly.

Suddenly, Siri appeared in between them but closer to where Aidan and Victor were standing. "Holy shit! Talk about coming out of nowhere!" Victor screamed in surprise, causing Siri to roll her eyes at him. She reached over and placed her palm against this chest. "You're still needed," she said in a low voice while her eyes glanced at Batman and Joker.

"Wha– "

Siri and Victor disappeared, which left Aidan, Joker, and Batman within the almost fully burnt building. Aidan took a timid step forward and her hand reached up to grab onto the necklace around her neck. She turned her eyes and stared straight into Batman's, her brows furrowing together. "I need you to take this off Batman, you put this on so you're the only one who can take it off," Aidan spoke slowly and softly, her eyes showing her desperation. Her hand tugged at the necklace hard as if to break it but it didn't, emphasizing the fact that only Batman could take it off.

Batman's body tensed up, his arms stuck to his sides, as he was unsure of what to do. "It's… to protect you and…" Batman wanted to hit himself when he saw Aidan's sad eyes look away from him.

Joker took that moment to take a few steps close to Aidan until he was behind her and wrapped an arm around her waist. "He… he – he doesn't trust you," he whispered into Aidan's ear and smirked cynically at Batman. "Batman thinks you're uh… thinks you're too _dangerous_ to – to be… to be let loose,"

"That's not true!" Batman said quickly. The fire had caught up to them quickly and a growing wall of fire now blocked the way they had entered the room through. "Don't listen to what this lunatic is saying,"

"But I – _I_ trust you…" Joker whispered just before the wall behind him fell over on itself. "I – _I_ would nev – _never_ take away the – the… the one thing that uh, that uh, you need most,"

Then, what Aidan did next almost made Batman have a heart attack…

Aidan let go of the necklace, her arms falling listlessly to her sides. She turned to head away from Batman's eyes and toward where Joker was. Aidan turned her body into Joker, even going as far to lay her head against Joker's chest. "I… I _think_ I would rather… I would rather be near someone who… who… who wouldn't put me on a… on a leash," Aidan whispered sadly into Joker's chest as his other arm came around her. "I only wish… I only wish I could read your mind…"

Right at that moment a large chunk fell off from the ceiling and landed right in between Joker and Batman. The fire was starting to spread even faster now and all three could feel the heat starting to surround them and the smoke was beginning to seep into their lungs. Batman was about to lung forward until a bolt of lightning crashed right in front of him. He turned to the side and saw Vaughn taking off the rubber gloves and smiling at him.

Joker started to laugh as he lifted Aidan up into his arms and ran through the hole that was created behind him, disappearing from Batman's sight.

Vaughn quickly left after Joker disappeared and Batman followed their examples, not wanting to die in a fire before he could straggle Joker… Batman rushed toward an exit while jumping over pieces of the building on the floor, dodging whatever fell, and making sure the fire didn't touch his suit. He made it through two large doors just before a piece of the ceiling fell on the spot he was just at seconds ago.

Batman looked up at the sky and saw no more gray clouds. The blue sky was starting to appear and the sun could now be seen disappearing behind the horizon. He looked around as he ran toward the Batpod and saw no one and nothing else nearby.

--

Harvey leaned back against a brand new chair, beside a brand new desk, on top of a brand new rug, inside a brand new office. His permanent half-grin opened slightly as he chuckled in his seat, his upper body shaking from the laughter as he celebrated his victory.

Off to the side of the room was Siri, lying down on the couch there with her feet up on the armrest. She had her hands behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling. "And what about Victor?" she asked. Siri had left him in some room in the building, rolling her eyes at him when he was complaining about busy dizzy because of her teleporting. She last saw Victor lying down on the floor, moaning and groaning in 'pain'.

"He's our only connection and link to Joker so he still has his uses," Harvey loaded a new round of bullets into his handgun, a quick clicking sound echoing in the room. "You just make sure he listens to whatever I say,"

"Whatever," Siri disappeared as soon as the word left her lips. She reappeared a foot above the bed in Victor's room and fell on it, bouncing back up a few times. She rolled over to her side and peered over the edge of the bed and saw Victor still lying there, seemingly asleep. Siri stayed like that for a bit, just staring at Victor curiously until her eyelids suddenly felt heavy. She rolled back onto the bed and her body relaxed seconds before she fell into a deep slumber.

Victor sat up into a sitting position, a wicked grin on his face. He turned his head to look at Siri on the bed sleeping and slowly got up to his feet. "You should've worn a mask," he whispered to her. He looked around the room and nodded in approval. The room looked much more like a hotel suit, unlike that room he was shoved into before. There was a large window not too far from the bed, a small desk and a sofa chair beside it.

He walked over to the sofa chair and plopped down onto it, once again nodding his approval at the chair. "Don't worry," Victor started, speaking to a still sleeping Siri, "I just wanted to see if you _really_ had no need for a mask around me, you'll forget about it when you wake up,"

Victor settled into the chair, arms crossed over his chest, and started to relax as he prepared himself for sleep. It was dark in the room and the large, uncovered windows revealed that it was also dark outside which had suggested that he was asleep for a while. He let his eyes drift close and lifted the sleeping affect from Siri before letting him go to sleep.

--

Bruce Wayne slammed the door open to his own little private training room. His hands were wrapped with a thin, but incredibly soft, white bandage and as were his feet which kicked his sandals to the side of the room. He wore loose, dark red shorts and a tight-fitted gray shirt. Bruce walked over to the large punching bag on the other side of the room from the door and circled it for a few times.

When he surmised that he would probably get all sweaty after his "anger management" session, he peeled off his shirt and threw it onto the floor away from the punching bag. Bruce stopped walking around the punching bag and started to hop back and forth as he got into position. Once he felt he was prepped enough, Bruce started to punch and jab as hard as he possibly could.

The punching bag shook and swung back and forth from each blow it took, the chains it hang from rattling form the force of Bruce's hits. There were a few rips on the punching bag already and a few small ones started to appear around it. However, Bruce just kept on punching and jabbing and then even started to kick.

Alfred walked into the room with a bottle of water in his hand and a towel hanging on the other. He stared at his young master with a worried glance, sighing when Bruce's punches made loud smacking sounds against the punching bag. Alfred walked over to where Bruce was but kept his distance, making sure he wasn't near enough for the punching bag to hit him in case it were to just fly off its chains. "Something troubling you that you wish to talk about, Master Bruce?" he asked hesitantly, flinching when Bruce seemed to have started hitting the punching bag harder.

"Nothing I know of, Alfred," Bruce replied in a monotone voice despite him having to breath heavily. He suddenly punched at the bag with so much force that Alfred's guess came true and the punching bag went sliding across the floor and landed a yard or two away from it was originally. Bruce let out a dejected sigh and started to walk over to the punching bag with very tense steps. Bruce picked up the punching bag with ease, making it look like it only weighed as much as a stuffed backpack. He noticed Alfred still staring at him and let out another dejected sigh. "I'm fine Alfred,"

"Are you sure?" Alfred stared at the punching bag in Bruce's arms and a single brow was raised in suspicion.

Bruce ignored Alfred's stare and walked back to where the punching bag was supposed to be. He set down the bag to take a close look at the chains, to see if he could just reattach the hooks together, and groaned when a link in the chain was destroyed. He turned back to Alfred, who still gave him that questioning look, and his shoulder's slumped slightly. "Fine, _Alfred_, there is something troubling me but I… I can take care of it,"

"I'm sure Miss Jaxon will understand your reasons in time," the wise, old butler said in a comforting way, trying to ease Bruce's worry. "She seems like a very reasonable young lady,"

"It's not like she packed up and went to her mother's until she calmed down, Alfred… She's with _Joker_!_" _Bruce kicked the punching bag that was still on the floor and made it rolled away from him. He quickly forgot about the punching bag and walked over to the bench press. He sighed contently when the cool surface of the bench met with his heated and flushed skin.

"So, is this problem you are having about Miss Jaxon _being_ with Joker or Miss Jaxon _choosing_ to be with Joker?" Alfred walked over to stand beside the bench and placed the bottle of water by Bruce's feet.

"Enough Alfred," Bruce ordered in an angry tone. He started to lift the bar over him, making the weight as heavy as he could take it. He inhaled and exhaled evenly to help keep his heartbeat calm and steady as possible.

"I take it you've come to terms with your infatuation with Miss Aidan?" Alfred pushed, laughing inwardly in his head when Bruce looked up at him with an evil glare.

"_Enough_, Alfred," Bruce repeated through clenched teeth.

"Was this due to your fault or hers?" Alfred continued, ignoring Bruce's angry expressions.

"_Alfred_!" Bruce placed the bar back to where it was and sat up on the bench. He quickly reached for the bottle of water he saw Alfred place at his feet and started to down the water, tilting his head back a bit to let a lot more water to go down his throat. "And it was my fault…" Bruce mumbled as soon as he put the bottle of water back down to the ground.

"And what will Master Bruce do to save his damsel?" Alfred smiled warmly at Bruce when the younger man looked up at him. However, Alfred found it hard to keep smiling warmly when Bruce looked up at him with sad eyes.

"My 'damsel' doesn't want me to save her… At least it seems that way_,_"

"Towel, sir?" Alfred handed Bruce the towel in his hand when he noticed the young man was covered in a light sheen of perspiration.

Bruce took the towel and smiled weakly at Alfred before wiping himself of the sweat around his forehead. He placed the towel around his neck and picked up the bottle of water before getting up off the bench. Bruce started to walk toward the door and exited the room without another word to Alfred. He could faintly hear the older man's footsteps behind him as he walked through his penthouse.

He threw his towel carelessly on top of his bed when he was near enough and walked out onto the area where the helipad was. Bruce relished the feeling of the cool breeze that passed over his still heated skin. He walked over to the edge and looked out into the city. In the distance, not too far away from where he was, he could see the area that had been destroyed not too long ago. Bruce frowned at the memory of Aidan screaming bloody terror in the meeting room.

When his body was finally started to cool down and the cool breeze was now freezing, Bruce headed back inside he penthouse. He saw Alfred standing there, waiting for him, but he just walked by him. "Do you think I should have done what I did to her, Alfred?" Bruce asked, stopping just a few steps behind Alfred.

"You did what you thought must be done, you saw no other choice; if you hadn't then Joker would still be using her powers to destroy more than they have already of the city," Alfred saw as he turned around to face Bruce but all he saw was the young billionaire's bare back.

"Did you happen to watch the news, Alfred?" Bruce asked suddenly, his back still facing Alfred.

Alfred was quiet for a moment, unsure of how he should word what he was about to tell Bruce. "Though her name was not mentioned, Miss Aidan had been labeled a threat to Gotham and the people wish for her to leave or to be…" Alfred stopped and bowed his head, afraid to say anything else.

"To be killed, because they're afraid of her," Bruce finished for Alfred. "Is that right?"

"Yes sir," Alfred bowed politely to Bruce before leaving quickly when he noticed that Bruce had become eerily quiet.

Bruce's hands fisted and he was thankful that he was still wearing the bandages or else it would have hurt a bit more. His muscles twitched from the stress and he pushed his lips into a tight line. "Joker won… this time…" he whispered quietly. "I _can't_ lose again,"

**End Chapter**


	12. Chapter Twelve

**A/N:** Hello again folks! Hopefully you enjoyed that last chapter - and sorry if I disappointed you in some way! It's all part of the plan :)

To Lady Willow Rose: Hehe, I'm glad you've been enjoying the story so far but not so glad that you're not too fond of Aidan anymore. Again, it's all part of the plan /

To PandylBas: Sorry if there isn't as much lovey-dovey stuff in the story. I just wanted to take a bit of time because - like I said somewhere before in the earlier chapters - love takes time.

**Disclaimer:** I only own Aidan Jaxon, Victor and Vaughn Thorne, I half own Siri Mariotte, and I also own this plot. I do not own Batman/Bruce Wayne, Joker, Alfred Pennyworth, Lucius Fox, Commissioner James Gordon, or anyone/anything else related to the Batman story/comics/whatever else.

Enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

Alfred was quiet for a moment, unsure of how he should word what he was about to tell Bruce. "Though her name was not mentioned, Miss Aidan had been labeled a threat to Gotham and the people wish for her to leave or to be…" Alfred stopped and bowed his head, afraid to say anything else.

"To be killed, because they're afraid of her," Bruce finished for Alfred. "Is that right?"

"Yes sir," Alfred bowed politely to Bruce before leaving quickly when he noticed that Bruce had become eerily quiet.

Bruce's hands fisted and he was thankful that he was still wearing the bandages or else it would have hurt a bit more. His muscles twitched from the stress and he pushed his lips into a tight line. "Joker won… this time…" he whispered quietly. "I can't lose again,"

**Chapter Twelve**

Several days had passed with no interruption from either end, none from Batman or the Joker.

Aidan had been left alone in many different rooms, much like solitary confinement except she could get out whenever she wanted, with a few small objects in the room. She would sit for hours, concentrating on the smallest object in the room and trying to lift it up into the air with her telekinesis. Her eyes would narrow in frustration and her whole body would go tense as she tried and tried.

A few times she had been able to lift an object just a few paper widths high for only just a second or two before it fell back down to where it was. Joker would come into the room occasionally and just poke at thing in the room as he would try and watch Aidan without making it noticeable. However, just like the Joker, he would leave after ten minutes or so because it was 'too boring'.

Aidan was given a beautiful long dress to wear early that morning, thrown carelessly at her by Vaughn who claimed that Joker told him to get it. At first, Aidan didn't really believe the blue-eyed man. The dress was black that sparkled blue and silver whenever it would move. When Aidan saw that the dress had a very low v-neck to it, she instantly believed that Joker had told Vaughn to get it for her.

Vaughn leaned against the wall by the door with his arms crossed over his chest and watched Aidan with semi-interested eyes. He had been watching her little sessions since she started and noticed a very large increase in progress. Aidan didn't need to concentrate as hard as she needed to when she first started and she was able to lift it about five centimetres before it fell back down.

"You know what Joker's planning, right?" Vaughn asked Aidan suddenly yet the sudden noise didn't seem to have startled her.

"I know," Aidan replied quietly while still concentrating on the small wooden spoon in front of her on the table. She sat with her hands folded neatly in her lap and her back flat against the backrest of the chair. "By limiting my powers by so much and making me practice like this my powers would be much, _much_ stronger when this necklace comes off and he's hoping he can use me again," her words seemed somewhat sad, like she was disappointed that Joker would and had used her.

Vaughn chuckled and pushed himself from the wall. He took slow, careful steps toward Aidan until he was just a foot behind her. "I take it you can read minds again," he pointed out. Vaughn leaned back against the wall behind Aidan and continued to watch her practice with the wooden spoon again. "And you don't mind that at all?"

The wooden spoon floated upward into the air and this time it was about seven centimetres from the table. Aidan exhaled suddenly and the wooden dropped. "If you could just leave me alone for a bit or at least don't say anything, you're kind of a distraction when you talk," Aidan spat out bitterly before resuming her practice.

"I get it!" Vaughn realized, ignoring Aidan's request to stop talking. "You knew Batman would put that thing around you and knew that he wouldn't let you practice if he was near… so you went with Joker to get stronger," Vaughn shook his head and chuckled, his eyes turning a light shade of pink. "But I wonder what that reason would be, hm?"

Aidan stood up from her chair and turned around to face Vaughn. She smiled when she saw Vaughn's light pink eyes and extended her arm to him with her hand held open to him. The wooden spoon on the table suddenly lifted up into the air and flew straight into her hand. "Have you noticed how I don't get so tense when Joker's around anymore? I'm doing this so in the case that Joker does try to make me go crazy again and destroy the city, he won't be able to because I'll be able to resist his mind a little better," she closed her hand around the spoon and brought it to her chest, cradling it gently like a toy doll.

"_Nice job Aidan; real sneaky,_" came Victor's voice instead of Vaughn's, making Aidan smile some more at the sound of a familiar voice. "_Just be careful, okay sweetheart_?"

"You be careful too," Aidan whispered to Vaughn's face yet knew that Victor would hear it. "You promised I would get to see what was in your head the next time we meet,"

Victor's laugh was heard instead of Vaughn's, the action looking strange on Vaughn. "_Okay, okay – just don't do anything stupid_,"

Just then the door to the room opened and Joker came skipping inside. He tilted his head curiously when he saw how close Aidan and Vaughn were standing beside each other before quickly rushing to Aidan's side. He wrapped a possess arm around her waist and pulled her close, eyeing Vaughn suspiciously.

Vaughn's eyes had returned to their deep blue shade and he turned to walk out of the room. He stole one last glance back at Aidan before leaving the room.

"You uh… you know…" Joker started. He turned Aidan around so that the two of them were now facing each other and he kept his arms possessively around her. "It – it – it's been a while since we had uh… since we had a little uh… fun,"

Aidan looked up at Joker oddly, already having a guess at what Joker might be talking about. "What do you mean by fun?"

Joker grinned at Aidan and pressed his lips roughly against Aidan's for the quickest of moments before pulling away and heading for the door. He closed the door behind him with a light slam of the door. Aidan stayed there standing, staring at the door with a worried expression. From the few seconds that Joker had held her she concentrated on trying to read his mind but all she could see was fire.

Aidan shivered at she thought of all the different possibilities that would need fire to be there. However, her thoughts suddenly started to trail and ended up remembering the sad eyes Batman had when she had moved closer into Joker's embrace. Her hands went up to rub her against her bare arms, trying to keep warm. The wooden spoon left her hand and floated back to the table, gently being placed back to where it was before it had been moved. She turned around and sat back down on the small chair, still rubbing her hands against her arms.

Vaughn came back into the room, his head sticking through the door's small opening before he fully stepped inside. His eyes were a light pink, denoting that Victor was also – sort of – in the room. Vaughn softly closed the door behind him and held the doorknob in his hands; something that told Aidan that Victor was in more control of Vaughn's body.

"You're really pushing it Victor," came Vaughn's angry voice, coming up to control his body for a moment to yell at his brother.

"_Relax! You're not going to get caught,_"

Vaughn rolled his eyes and once again let Victor have semi-control of his body. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small pocketknife that he opened and closed a few times before finally keeping it closed. He passed it to Aidan, grabbing her hands and forcing her fingers to wrap around it. As soon as he was sure that the pocketknife was in her hands Vaughn let go, his eyes turning back to dark blue.

Aidan smiled sheepishly when Vaughn just stared at her for a bit before leaving the room again. She looked down into her hands, rolling the pocketknife from one hand to the other. "I hope Bruce isn't _too_ worried,"

--

Today was different from the rest of the other days Bruce Wayne had been part of a meeting. Instead of being thrilled, the attendees and even Lucius sat with worried glances to the young man. Bruce sat in his seat, alert and attentive with his hand folded neatly on the table and his eyes staring right at the person presenting. However, his staring made the presenter a bit more self-conscious.

Bruce was tense, so incredibly tense. Nothing big had happened in the passed few days and he had no luck in trying to find where Aidan might be. Every time he would think he got something and went to go straight to the location there was nothing there. It was like they knew he was coming and would constantly keep moving spots. Bruce was half expecting the whole city to blow up by now.

He didn't have any luck with finding Harvey either, since he had started searching ever since he recalled Victor saying that Harvey was the one who ordered him to take Aidan. Bruce stared at the presenter but his mind was somewhere else completely. He half noticed the presenter turning and looking at him with an unsure expression and stuttering his words every now and then. He nodded his head whenever Lucius would and would mimic whatever else the man would do – just to make it seem like he was paying attention.

It couldn't have happened any sooner when the meeting had ended, leaving Lucius and Bruce alone in the room. Lucius walked up beside Bruce, who still sat with his back straight and hands on the table, and placed a curious pat on the young man's shoulder. "Bruce? The party will be happening at eight in the evening," he reminded Bruce, never buying the 'I'm paying attention' act.

"What will be happening when?" Bruce's head turned sharply toward Lucius' direction and did it so quickly Lucius wondered how the man didn't hurt himself in the process. Bruce blinked his eyes twice as he tried to search his brain for whatever Lucius was talking about. He remembered someone from the meeting talking about something or other that was happening in a big hall and he slightly wished he had been actually paying attention. Once he realized what Lucius had said be pouted a little. "Oh…"

"Relax Bruce, I'm sure she'll turn up," Lucius comforted, watching as Bruce sunk into his seat.

"That's what I'm afraid of…" Bruce put his elbows up on the table and placed his head in his hands as he let out a lamenting sigh. His fingers ran through his hair and tugged at it gently as he finally tried to relax after that hour or so long meeting.

"Is Bruce Wayne, the billionaire playboy, having women – no, _woman_ troubles?" Lucius joked.

Bruce stood up suddenly and started to walk toward the exit. Lucius laughed some more, using Bruce's 'outburst' as confirmation. "I liked you better when you just made stuff for me," Bruce shouted over his shoulder just before he left the room.

"Party at eight Bruce!" Lucius shouted back, still laughing.

--

Victor had somehow obtained a small rubber ball and had been repeatedly throwing it against the wall across from the bed. He had found out that he was, in fact, in a hotel except Harvey Two Face was taking this hotel over – secretly. He was free to roam around the building but wasn't able to walk out, mostly because of the two abnormally large men that seemed to appear at every exit.

He kept a steady link between him and Vaughn every time he was sure that no one was around to see him having conversations with Vaughn and Aidan as if they were in the room but it just looked like he was talking to himself. The girl, Siri, would come into the room from time to time stating that she was just making sure he wasn't going to try anything.

Every time that Siri would teleport into the room Victor would become startled and jump in shock on the bed. Just like she did right that moment.

"Holy shit! Do you have a bell or something that can be used to warn me you're coming? God!" Victor shouted. He held a hand at his heart, pretending like he had almost had an episode of a heart attack.

Siri laughed at him each time she reappeared in the room, Victor's uneasiness becoming like a fun thing to do whenever she got too bored. "Come on you big chicken," Siri walked up to Victor and was just about to place her hand on his shoulder until he scooted away from her. She raised a brow in question but Victor just scooted farther away from her. "What?"

"If I tell you whatever Harvey wants to know… will you not teleport me?"

"No,"

"Fuck!"

Siri quickly slapped her hand onto Victor's shoulder and teleported into the room where Harvey sat beside the desk. Victor wobbled a bit and tried to shake it off but the shaking only made it worse. "She – she's gonna betray Joker…" Victor managed to say as he continued to wobble. "What does it matter anyway?"

Harvey ignored Victor's question and flipped his coin high into the air instead. The coin went up high, almost hitting the ceiling as it flipped many times, before falling back down into his open hand. Harvey caught it easily and flipped it over onto the back of his other hand. He looked underneath his hand and smiled happily, turning toward Victor and Siri. "It's your turn,"

"Our turn for what?" Victor demanded, yet somewhere in the back of his mind he already knew that his question would never be answered – just like all the other times he dared to ask anything.

--

The giant hall was lit up with many, many lights hanging from the ceiling. The walls were decorated with sparkling gold curtains that were trimmed with a thin red line. Across the whole floor was a matching red carpet that covered every inch of the floor except for the dance floor in the centre. At the sides of the room were tables upon tables that were to seat the many guests plus some more who decided to just appear without notice. Large crystal balls hung from the ceiling and were nothing like those disco balls for they were real crystals.

The guests traveled about the room and mingled with whomever they thought was the most important person to add to their contact list. The majority of the room was filled with the old rich, the new rich, and those people who posed as the rich and tried hard to befriend the rich.

Bruce looked around the room for someone he knew, someone he could at least talk to so he could escape this strange façade he had been forced to join because one of his 'partners' was hosting the event. He kept a fake smile on, nodding and waving to each person who did the same to him first.

He had only brought one date this time, a young brunette named Annabelle. She tugged on his arm every once and a while whenever she saw someone important in her line of vision and would force Bruce to introduce her to him or her.

Soft, classical music played as the background music and Bruce still tried to find someone he could talk to – even for a few minutes. As soon as he saw Lucius he practically threw young Annabelle's arm away from his and dashed toward the familiar face.

"In a hurry Bruce?" Lucius chuckled at Bruce who looked almost out of breath from the mad dash just had made.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see your face right now," Bruce wheezed out, grabbing onto a glass of champagne from a tray that just happened to pass him by at that moment.

"Apart from the other times you see my face?"

"You know what I mean Lucius," Bruce drank all the contents of the glass and placed it on another tray that passed by him. He fixed his tuxedo at he started to fidget for the first time in a long time, his eyes roaming over everyone in the room.

"What is it Bruce? Lucius asked, his eyes following whatever Bruce was staring at.

"Almost every rich person in Gotham City is here Lucius," Bruce said as he continued to scan the room, "Don't you think that's a bit _dangerous_?"

Lucius shrugged his shoulders at Bruce as he also scanned the room. There were many, many men and women who wore the most lavishing and more expensive clothing and accessories. The colours of the women's dresses weren't very far apart, most were shades of gold and very few decided to come in dark shades like black or a dark chocolate brown. The men came in very clean-cut, first rate tuxedos with their shoes that looked to be the finest leather.

"I suppose it is a bit odd that they are all gathering here," Lucius said, thinking aloud.

Bruce's eyes stopped roaming around the room when he noticed two very familiar faces enter the hall. He recognized the young man, Victor Thorne, and the young woman with black hair and white hair underneath from the power plant who disappeared with Victor. He narrowed his eyes as he watched them walk about the room side by side. "Excuse me a moment, will you Lucius?" Bruce asked with a smile. However, Bruce didn't stay long enough to hear Lucius' answer for he had already started walking toward Victor and the young woman.

"Why did Harvey make us come to this snooze-fest?" Victor whispered to Siri while keeping on a fake smile whenever someone looked his way.

"Because Joker is supposed to be here," Siri whispered back, also putting on a fake smile.

"Why would Joker come to this snooze-fest?" Victor could feel the stares aimed at him and he felt like they were digging holes through him.

"Maybe Joker wants to not only destroy Gotham physically but also economically? I don't know! But it sure would cause a lot of terror," Siri immediately stopped talking when she saw the famous face of Gotham, Bruce Wayne, approaching them.

"Hello there, I'm afraid I don't recognize you and I was sure that I knew everyone in Gotham but the young man does look a little familiar," Bruce said to the two as he neared them. He bowed his head in a traditional fashion to Victor and kissed the back of the woman's hand. "What brings you two here?"

"Aha…" Victor laughed nervously while secretly trying to pull his arm away from Siri's hold. "We were uhm… uh… I was – she – uh… They – but – um…"

"We were invited," Siri answered for Victor, trying to hide her irritation at the young man's sudden nervousness. "I am Siri Mariotte and he is Victor Thorne,"

Bruce nodded his head in acknowledgement, smiling at Siri when she smiled at him. Just then Annabelle decided to show up and snaked her arm around Bruce's in a possessive manner. "Bruce, I've been looking everywhere for you," Annabelle whined while batting her eyelashes at Bruce when he looked down at her.

Victor suppressed himself form making gagging noises and also because Siri elbowed him in his side before he could.

"Uh, Annabelle this is Siri and Victor, Victor and Siri this is Annabelle," Bruce greeted the group to each other and they all exchanged nods. After a few seconds of silence, Bruce cleared his throat and spoke up again. "How about you two sit with me at my table?"

"You – we – but – that's – well – uh…" Victor bit his lip to stop himself from saying anything else and silently decided to let Siri do all the talking.

"Thank you, but we couldn't intrude," Siri declined politely to Bruce but sent an annoyed glare at Annabelle when the woman looked a little too pleased at her refusal.

"No, please," Bruce grabbed onto Victor's arm and started to drag the two of them with him to his table, "It will be no trouble at all,"

They walked around the dance floor and reached Bruce's table with no trouble and much quicker than any of them thought it would take. There were plenty of other chairs around the table but it seemed like no one else would be sitting there. Siri and Victor sat down first and then Bruce and Annabelle sat down.

The four of them sat quietly, Annabelle speaking up every once and a while. Victor would stutter whenever he was asked a question and Siri was forced to answer for him. Bruce kept a close eye on the two of them, wondering why the two were even here. "So… why did you two come to the party? I know I would've have come if I had a choice," Bruce asked suddenly, staring at both Victor and Siri intently.

"We wanted to be here when the show started," Siri smiled wickedly and leaned forward against the table when she whispered her words softly toward Bruce.

Bruce smiled and stood up from his seat and excused himself. He walked toward the back of the room, sneaking passed the security guards and making sure that they didn't see his face. He went into one of the back rooms and closed the door quietly behind him. Bruce walked over to the far wall and kicked at the spot in the corner, not too hard to make much noise. The wall in front of him shifted and opened up to reveal a secret compartment that held his Batman suit. "It's nice to have blueprints of the city from time to time," he said quietly as he started to change.

As soon as he was changed, Batman headed back to the hall. He passed by the same guards and they looked at him in surprise, shocked that Batman had showed up to the party. Batman stopped as soon as he was at the edge of the hall and looked around the crowd. He saw that Siri, Victor, and sadly Annabelle as well were still sitting at the table he had left them at. He started to look around again and his breath got caught in his throat when he saw who else had just entered the room.

He saw Aidan enter the large hall, her garnet-hazel eyes were downcast and her head bowed to hide her face from the other guests. She wore a long dark dress that sparkled whenever she took a step and her hair was neatly done to help hide her face some more. Batman looked around her to see anyone else there who looked even the smallest bit suspicious but was surprised when she appeared to have come alone.

Batman watched her for a while, watching as she walked timidly further into the hall until she reached the edge of the dance floor. Batman suddenly found himself walking toward her, pushing anyone out from his way gently until he was just out of arms reach from Aidan. The young woman looked up and gasped, as well as the rest of the room when they realized that she was in the room – totally not caring if Batman was there. A few gasped and others stared at her in fear while Batman tried to figure out what he should do.

Aidan looked around her with a sad face, everyone edging farther away from where she stood. She looked back at Batman and suddenly found herself within his tight embrace. More gasps echoed in the room as Batman tightened his arms around Aidan, the side of his face leaning against her head.

"Just because you're hugging me doesn't mean they'll stop being afraid of me," Aidan whispered softly to Batman, her arms stiffly at her sides.

"That wasn't really my goal," Batman whispered back to her.

Aidan sighed and leaned into him. She brought her arms up and embraced Batman back, though her hug wasn't was tight as his.

"Well… Well – well isn't that _precious_!" came Joker's sinister voice, followed by several of his henchmen running inside after him and Vaughn walking in casually. "Now my new game can begin!"

Batman pulled away from the embrace and pushed Aidan to stand behind him. He eyed Joker carefully as he walked toward him with uneven steps. Joker turned to his henchmen, signaling for them to put their guns to the ground. They looked at each other in confusion before dropping their weapons. Joker stopped walking until he was a couple of feet away from where Batman stood.

The two stared each other, Joker sucking his teeth and Batman growling in a low tone. Joker suddenly pushed his hands forward with his wrists pressed against each other side by side. "Take me away!" he half shouted.

"What!?" Batman, Aidan, Victor, Vaughn, Siri, and the henchmen all said in unison.

**End Chapter**

**A/N:** Haha! Wasn't that ending so totally weird? Well, I found it weird and a little funny - plus a little comical. How'd you guys like it? And I'm really sorry for any of my grammar mistakes... I promise I'll try to find and fix anymore of them in the future! Anywho, stay tuned for the next chapter :)


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**A/N:** Me again! Yes everyone, Joker's got a very bad plan up his sleeves. I don't want to say anymore because I want to talk about the chapter without giving it away so I'll see you at the end :)

To FuyuTenshi: Yes, it is very weird for Joker to just give himself in but I have been doing extra, extra research on him. Apparently, he likes to go to Arkham Asylum for "vacations" because he gets free food and room. I thought that was pretty cute and funny and so like the Joker to go for "vacations" at an asylum.

To AbiSnocom: I'm sorry if Siri, Vaughn, and Victor seem like they were crossed over from X-Men. I had no intention to do that. And uhm, Vaughn only has the power over electricity and he cannot summon the weather like that. The windy weather and thunderstorm was just my way of uhm.. damn, I forgot the word. It was like a foreshadowing of events / And I'll explain how they got their powers later on. And! I am really glad you like the story :)

To PandylBas: Haha, I'm glad you thought that part was funny 'cause I really thought so too :P

**Disclaimer:** BOOM! That was the sound of me _trying_ to obtain a Batman and Joker plushie and claiming that as my own. I, sadly, don't own the real thing.

Enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

Batman pulled away from the embrace and pushed Aidan to stand behind him. He eyed Joker carefully as he walked toward him with uneven steps. Joker turned to his henchmen, signaling for them to put their guns to the ground. They looked at each other in confusion before dropping their weapons. Joker stopped walking until he was a couple of feet away from where Batman stood.

The two stared each other, Joker sucking his teeth and Batman growling in a low tone. Joker suddenly pushed his hands forward with his wrists pressed against each other side by side. "Take me away!" he half shouted.

"What!?" Batman, Aidan, Victor, Vaughn, Siri, and the henchmen all said in unison.

**Chapter Thirteen**

"Maybe we should take him in? Put him in Arkham Asylum?"

"No, he might be planning for us to put him in there,"

"Or he could be planning for us to not put him in there and keep him in here at the MCU!"

Commissioner Gordon and Batman continued to yell at each other, throwing whatever theories they had that might explain why Joker had given himself up so suddenly. Gordon was bent on sending Joker to Arkham Asylum, not wanting to go through the same mistakes he had done before with Joker. Batman, however, wasn't so sure about what to do with Joker. He would think of every possible outcome and think of every possible reason why Joker would do what he did and that only lead to more unanswered questions.

Both turned to the side and stared at Joker who sat alone in the single jail cell. He waved at them when he saw them staring, smiling wickedly. "Hello there," Joker said a low, husky voice.

Gordon looked away from Joker and turned back to face Batman, his eyes fierce and he held his feet firmly on the ground to show how determined he was about sending Joker to Arkham Asylum. "We can keep him in cuffs at all times, guards at his doors with earplugs so there's no chances of him tricking them, twenty-four hour surveillance to make sure he can't do anything – we _need_ to send Joker to the asylum!"

Batman shook his head, still refusing to believe that things could happen so easily. "This is far too easy Gordon, I _know_ he's up to something," Batman growled out at the Commissioner, a little annoyed at the man's stubbornness.

"Look Batman, what other choice do we have?" Gordon sighed dejectedly and walked backwards until he felt his chair hit the back of his knees and he sat down quickly. His elbow rested on the armrest and he held his chin in his hand as he began to sink in deep thought along with Batman. "Where could Joker go if not here or the asylum?"

Batman thought for a moment or two, asking himself the same question even before Gordon brought it up. He looked back at Joker, who was still sitting there staring back at him with those menacing eyes. He thought hard, trying to think of a place that Joker could go to that would hold him for a long time that wasn't the MCU or Arkham Asylum. However, his mind would always go blank for a second and then go to Aidan who he had left along at the penthouse.

The young woman was mad at him, he was sure, because he still hadn't taken off the necklace and remembered her giving him one-worded responses as soon as they reached the penthouse. Batman shook his head mentally to get rid of his wandering thoughts and went back to trying to think of a place to put Joker.

The asylum seemed like the best place to put him because of the high-tech security and many other things but he was afraid of what would happen when Joker meets up with the other evil masterminds there. Batman looked back to Gordon and started to think about Gordon's suggestion. As long as Joker was kept as far away as possible with absolutely nothing for him to use as a way to escape and no visitors then… then Arkham Asylum might be a good place after all.

Batman turned from Gordon and started to walk toward the cell that held Joker. He ignored Joker's happy smile at seeing him come near and stopped just a foot away from the bars. Joker jumped from his seat and banged up against the bars in front of where Batman was standing. His spine-chilling laughter echoed throughout the building, making everyone stop what he or she was doing for a quick second to shiver.

"You… you – you better get going… You don't have um… don't have uh… have much time with her," Joker said, stuttering his words in between fits of his eerie laughter.

"What are you talking about?" Batman went to grab Joker through the bars but Joker jumped away just in time to dodge Batman's grip by a second.

"Oh! Hehe… I said – I said too much all – already!" Joker covered his mouth with one hand as he tried not to laugh, obviously with much failure. "Hoo, hoo-hoo!"

"Take him to the asylum!" Batman roared to Gordon who immediately jumped to his feet and rushed to stand by the cell. Batman glared at Joker and Joker just kept on laughing at him, mocking him, provoking him to do something that he _might_ regret.

"You heard him! Get him to the asylum!" Gordon barked out at the people standing around. Joker made no move to protest as they grabbed onto him roughly and cuffed his wrists together. He kept on laughing as they dragged him out of the cell and toward the back to where the vehicles they were going to transport Joker in were at.

Joker and Batman continued to glare at each other, Joker even turning his head around when they turned the corner. "Tick-tock, _Batman_!" Joker screamed just before he disappeared from Batman's sight. Joker allowed the 'kind' officers to drag him to the back and he would leaned toward one and smile widely, yellow teeth and all, and then move onto the next one. The officers would cringe away but try to keep a solid hold on him. "Woo! F – free ride! What - what about my oth - other free stuff?"

-- **You've been warned…**

Minutes after Joker had been taken away from the MCU with a lot of police cars riding near by, Batman raced back to the penthouse as soon as he rid himself of the Batman suit.

Bruce slammed his foot on the gas pedal of his new Cobalt. He sped by others on the street, narrowly dodging the red lights by a few seconds. Bruce went around cars easily after much practice from chasing others in his Tumbler. It wasn't too late into the evening, and Bruce was somewhat thankful that Joker had interrupted the party so early on.

8:45PM

Bruce pressed his foot even harder on the gas pedal, if that were possible, and he tried to get to his penthouse much quicker. People, objects, and buildings passed by him in an assortment of coloured blurs. However, he didn't pay the outside world much attention and kept his eyes glued to the road in front of him, his vision starting to look a little like tunnel vision because of the speed he was driving at.

Suddenly Bruce came to an abrupt stop, hitting the brakes just in time for the car to stop right in front of the front doors. Bruce rushed out from the car, waved and nodded at the guards in a routinely fashion, and waited impatiently in the elevator as he headed up to the penthouse.

As soon as the doors opened the first thing he saw was Aidan sitting down on the edge of bed staring out the glass walls and poking at the necklace. She still wore that dress from the party and her hair looked a little ruffled up. Bruce stood there in front of the elevator, unsure and hesitant if he should go up to her or not. He saw Alfred from the corner of his eye, far from where he was standing, and Alfred nodded at him before walking off and disappearing from his sight. Bruce looked back at Aidan and sucked in his breath before marching toward her.

Aidan turned around expectedly and stood up as she saw Bruce walking toward her. Her hand still gripped onto the necklace and she looked at him with half angry half sad eyes. She took a step away from the bed to meet with Bruce halfway. However, Bruce quickened his pace when he saw that she was walking toward him and he reached the bed much quicker than either had thought.

Suddenly, Bruce pushed Aidan back until she fell against the bed. She let out a surprised yelp as she bounced a little from the bed from the force of the fall. "What the hell was that for?" Aidan yelled in anger. She pushed herself up onto her elbows but Bruce crawled over her, his knees at either side of her, and pushed her shoulders back against the bed. Aidan was about to scream for Bruce to get off of her until she felt Bruce press his lips against hers.

Her eyes went as wide as eyes could open and her body became tense and stiff. She kept her lips closed as much as she could and she quickly shut her eyes tight. Aidan moved her hands toward Bruce's chest but he caught them with his own and laced his fingers with hers against the bed.

Bruce opened his mouth just a tad to allow his tongue to come out and brush softly against Aidan's bottom lip. Just as he predicted, Aidan gasped at the sudden feeling of the tip of his tongue against her lip and he quickly prodded the inside of her mouth with his tongue. Bruce tilted his head to the left so that he could get better access to her mouth and let go of one of her hands to hold her head in place.

Aidan managed to push Bruce away from her when he had let go of her hand and she looked at him with confused eyes. Bruce wiggled out from his jacket, having to let go of Aidan's hand reluctantly, but kept his eyes glued on Aidan's face. As soon as the jacket was off of him he used his left hand to help prop him up and his other hand started to trail up the side of Aidan's body until he reached the cold object around her neck. Bruce reached behind her neck and, unlike Victor's failed attempt, he took the necklace off without receiving a high voltage shock.

Bruce threw it to the side with so much force that when it landed against the ground the jewel cracked just a fraction. He rolled onto the bed so that his back was against it and took Aidan with him, making her hover above him instead. Aidan held herself up with her hands at either side of Bruce's head and would've gotten off of him if he hadn't had a tight grip on her waist. Her hair fell around her like a curtain and framed her face.

Aidan looked shyly away from Bruce and tried to move away but unfortunately for her, Bruce pulled her down so that she was now sitting on him and she refused to have anymore contact with him by keeping her upper body hovering over him. Bruce let out a light chuckle as he brought one hand up to gently caress the side of Aidan's face. "Is it weird if I can't help but want – no, can't help but _need_ you to be around me?" he asked in a low whisper, still caressing the side of Aidan's face.

"I didn't know whether or not it was because of duty or responsibility but I just _had_ to have you near me," Bruce continued you, his dark eyes looking deeply into Aidan's garnet-hazel eyes. "I didn't want to do anything that would bring thoughts of _us_ together… And I tried hard not to think of you in any of kind way possible but that obviously didn't work," Bruce tucked some of Aidan's hair behind her ear when he paused. He began to trace invisible lines along Aidan's face, a smile appearing on his face.

Aidan didn't know what was going on and didn't know what she should do. She just stayed still and listened carefully to what Bruce was saying, slowly leaning into his touch. When she saw his smile she couldn't help but smile warmly back at him.

"I was afraid that… that if I fell… _completely_ for you… that I would love you… and lose you," Bruce continued to trace those invisible lines along Aidan's face and relished the feeling of Aidan leaning more into his touch. "I don't know if… I don't know how… I just know that I _need_ to be with you… Is that weird?"

Aidan shook her head no almost too quickly and blushed when she realized what she did. The hair that Bruce had tucked behind her ear fell forward again, but Bruce just tucked it back to where it was. "So… is that your way of saying you love me?" Aidan asked shyly, her eyes trying to avoid Bruce's but they just kept looking back to see his reaction to her question.

"I think it might be," Bruce replied honestly.

"I think I just like being around you because you keep me sane," Aidan joked a little, her shy smile small and her eyes staring deep into Bruce's eyes.

"Is that a good thing?" Bruce chuckled lightly, his hand moving down from her cheek to rest against the side of her neck and the base of her head. Bruce tugged at her a little; trying to make her lower her head to meet with his while his other hand rubbed circles against her back with just a single thin piece of fabric preventing him from touching her skin.

Aidan smiled and lowered herself so that she could gently place her lips against Bruce's. She felt one of Bruce's hands tangle up in her hair and push her head closer to his in reflex. Both moaned in unison when Bruce rolled his hips upward against Aidan's pelvis. Bruce rolled them over so that he was back on top again, making sure not to break the kiss.

Bruce silently beckoned for Aidan to respond more to him when his tongue was back in her mouth and he grunted his approval when she mimicked his moves. The room was soon filled with the sounds of their heavy gasps of air and low moans of pleasure. Aidan's hands snaked around Bruce's torso and now clung onto his back. Bruce rolled his hips again and Aidan moaned in response, arching her back upward when he did it another time.

Suddenly Bruce pulled away and looked down at Aidan's flustered face with a grin. "Unbutton my shirt," he whispered in a husky tone of voice.

"What?" Aidan replied in a startled voice. "Shouldn't the guy do everything?"

"Did you think that _Bruce Wayne_ would really stick to being traditional? How else did you think I keep the women wanting me?" Bruce laughed, a genuine smile on his face.

"Your charms and good looks?" Aidan smiled sheepishly, hoping that she wouldn't have to do whatever else Bruce wanted to do but the smile disappeared when Bruce rolled his hips again but did it much harder than before. Her hands gripped onto his back in reflex and she bit her lip to stop the moan from escaping. Bruce bent forward to her ear and blew against it softly before nibbling on the bottom of her ear playfully. "Aidan," he whispered into her ear, making Aidan shiver slightly.

Aidan slide her hands to the front of Bruce's torso and started to unbutton his shirt very slowly, her mind being too occupied with Bruce's hips rolling and his playful nibbling of her ear. She managed to unbutton the first three buttons when Bruce's hands started to slowly slip the dress off of her shoulders. Bruce started to move his head downward, leaving a trail of feather light kisses against her skin. Aidan lost all control over her body and just gripped onto Bruce's shirt as he continued to move down her body.

Bruce pushed the dress down until her waist and brought his hands back up and started to massage her body until they reached her breasts. Bruce continued to kiss Aidan's skin until he reached the valley between her breasts and just stayed in that spot. His right hand slid back down and pushed her dress further down. He moved a bit so that he could fully rid Aidan of the dress and did something else that was slightly unexpected.

He pushed himself up into a sitting position and brought Aidan with him so that she was sitting on his lap, her legs wrapped around his waist. Bruce held Aidan close to his body and leaned back bit so that Aidan could lean against him without falling backwards. He practically ripped of his shirt from being in such a rush and pressed his lips against Aidan's once again.

Bruce kept one arm around Aidan's naked torso while his other hand began to quickly remove his pants. He shifted around a lot until he finally got rid of the pants. Suddenly, Aidan pushed away with a worried expression on her face. "Should we be doing this? Is it okay to be doing this? I don't know if I can do this!"

"Relax," Bruce whispered and started to kiss along Aidan's jaw line from one side to the other. And then, with no words or even a warning, Bruce plunged deep and hard into her. Aidan sucked in her breath sharply before letting out a low moan. Her hands scratched against Bruce's back when he started to move in and out of her. Bruce would almost pull completely out before thrusting back in and he would let out a low grunt each time he did.

He started out in agonizingly slow motions, so slow that it was almost painful for the both of them but Bruce moved smoothly like he knew exactly what he was doing. Aidan had closed her eyes a while ago and her mouth was held open in silent cries of passion with her arms wrapped securely over Bruce's shoulders.

Aidan's legs tightened around Bruce's waist as he continued to pull in and out of her. Very soon his thrusts started to become harder and faster, his arms around Aidan tightening to hold her there. Bruce placed his hands against Aidan's hips and started to move her in the same rhythm as his movements.

Aidan then noticed the bruises and scars against Bruce's back and turned around to look at his face. "Bruce…" she managed to say with her out of breath lungs.

"No… Don't talk…" Bruce kissed her again and he pushed them back against the bed. He started to quicken his pace as well as deepening his thrusts. Aidan moaned against Bruce's lips, her hands gripping tighter against Bruce's back. Suddenly he pulled away from the kiss and buried his face against the crook of Aidan's neck and shoulder. The bed shook slightly and hit the headboard of the bed whenever Bruce would move.

Aidan's and Bruce's heavy breathing echoed louder and louder in the room until Bruce cursed loudly against Aidan's skin as he climaxed along with Aidan following him soon after. They stayed like that for a while as they tried to catch their breath. Bruce pulled away from her and fell onto the bed beside Aidan, still trying to catch his breath. Aidan rolled over on her side and stared at Bruce curiously. "Did you just say 'shit'?" her voice cracking as she was little tired.

Bruce laughed and turned over toward Aidan. He propped himself up on his elbow and moved a few stands of hair away from Aidan's face. "Well, unless you were planning to be the mother of my children then I think 'shit' is a pretty good word to use in this case,"

Bruce pulled Aidan close and placed a small kiss against her forehead. Aidan relaxed against him and began to slowly drift off to sleep. Once he thought that Aidan was asleep, he carefully peeled himself away from her and started to search for his clothes. He dressed quickly, glancing back at Aidan every now and then as he did.

He was just about to head for the elevator when he heard Aidan move around on the bed. He looked back at her and smiled warmly. "Where are you going?" Aidan asked him in a tired but very curious tone of voice.

"I'm going to pick up a few diamonds," he replied quickly before rushing to the elevator.

"Diamonds?" Aidan frowned when Bruce disappeared behind the closing elevator doors without another word. However, she didn't let that stop her from letting herself drift off to sleep.

-- **You were warned…**

Bruce just stepped onto the corner of the sidewalk and looked left and right before deciding to cross the street. He glanced down at his wrist to check the time as he stuffed his other hand into his pocket.

10:23PM

He was just about to step onto the street when his cellular phone rang. Bruce reached into his back pocket and froze when he realized that it was his _other_ phone that was ringing. He glanced around him again out of habit of being paranoid, and pulled out his other cell phone. "Hello?" he spoke into the mini microphone.

"_Bruce?_"

Bruce had half expected it to be Alfred calling him because he was the only other person who knew this number but instead of hearing the elderly man's voice he heard Aidan's panicked one. "Aidan?"

"_Bruce! I'm sorry for calling you on this phone but I remembered it from when I last read Alfred's mind,_"

"It's fine, what is it?" Bruce began to worry as he listened to Aidan's frightened voice. He rushed across the street and quickly opened up his car.

"_I know why Joker willingly let himself be taken away! I didn't know I could do it but I remembered Vaughn gave me Joker's little pocketknife so I was holding it for a bit and then it just came to me!_"

"Why were you holding onto Joker's knife?" came Bruce's suspicious, and jealous, question.

"… _I thought I could maybe read his mind by holding onto something of his…_"

"And what is Joker going to do?" Bruce pulled out from parking and zoomed onto the not-so busy streets. Once again he found himself speeding by cars, people, and buildings alike. Everything around him looking like just one big blur.

"_Joker's going to… When I first saw it all I saw was fire everywhere but I just thought that I couldn't see it all because my powers were being limited…_"

"Sorry about that…" Bruce mumbled quietly, but his words were so low that Aidan barely even caught it.

"_Joker is going to blow up the whole city at the stroke of midnight… He knew that he would go to Arkham Asylum and thought that it would be the best view to watch everything burn…_"

Suddenly, as Bruce was coming up to the corner where there was a large TV placed near the top of the building, had a few sparks fly out of it and then Vaughn's face appeared on the screen. Bruce slowed down the car and parked somewhere near the building to see what Vaughn was going to say.

"I can't believe I'm doing this…" Vaughn grumbled angrily as he shifted through a few sheets of paper. "People of Gotham," Vaughn read from the paper in front of him, "A message from your 'friendly neighbourhood Joker'…"

"_What's going on Bruce_?"

"Vaughn says he has a message from Joker…" Bruce replied in a monotone, zombie-like voice as his eyes were glued to the large TV screen.

"Gotham is about to experience its very first, city wide bonfire… No one, not even your chosen hero, that flying rodent, can stop the fire from happening…" Vaughn flipped the page calmly, as if whatever Joker had made him read didn't affect him at all. "The aim of the game is to see what will one do to get out of the city first… Oh god, he wants me to read this?" Vaughn narrowed his eyes at the words that were apparently so appalling that it actually affected him unlike the fact that the city was going to blow up. "Stupid Joker… he says: ha ha, ha ha, ha ha…"

**End Chapter**

**A/N:** Haha, I can picture Vaughn being very mad that he had to do that. To me, he doesn't seem like the "hahaha" kind of guy. Anyway! How was the chapter? Personally, I really like that _huge_ scene between Aidan and Bruce. That was the first time ever in this story that they did that. I don't know if I should say this other thing, so just ask me if you want to know what it is and I'll tell you just in case some people might not want to know about that...

The biggest and baddest - in my eyes anyway - is next. Beware and don't hate me for it :S


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**A/N:** Oh my god guys, this is a _very_ long chapter! I'm sorry if it might be a bit too long for some of you but please be patient - there is a lot of very important things that happen in this chapter. So, I'll just meet you at the end to talk about it.

To Fuyu Tenshi: Haha, yeah, it did get a little hot and heavy. (Hopefully) there'll be more "hot and heavy" stuff later on :o

To PandylBas: Yeah, Vaughn had to force his laugh because he never really wanted to laugh in the first place, lol. Sorry if it wasn't any fun :S

To juicycoutourevalerie: Ha, hopefully I spelled your name right again! And thanks for the compliment. I wonder what Joker is up to, too :P

To Lady Willow Rose: I like the chemistry there between them too, I like writing the scenes with them together - but I love writing scenes where Batman and Joker confront each other more :D

**Disclaimer:** Owning of, not Batman or others. Owning of, original characters yes. Owning of, half of Siri Mariotte (other half is Fuyu Tenshi :P)

Enjoy the long chapter!

**In the last chapter:**

"What's going on Bruce?"

"Vaughn says he has a message from Joker…" Bruce replied in a monotone, zombie-like voice as his eyes were glued to the large TV screen.

"Gotham is about to experience its very first, city wide bonfire… No one, not even your chosen hero, that flying rodent, can stop the fire from happening…" Vaughn flipped the page calmly, as if whatever Joker had made him read didn't affect him at all. "The aim of the game is to see what will one do to get out of the city first… Oh god, he wants me to read this?" Vaughn narrowed his eyes at the words that were apparently so appalling that it actually affected him unlike the fact that the city was going to blow up. "Stupid Joker… he says: ha ha, ha ha, ha ha…"

**Chapter Fourteen**

10:29PM

Bruce had raced back to the penthouse because Aidan had screamed for him to return through the phone, making his ear ring a little. He sort of knew what she had to say but pushed the thought away quickly. As soon as he had entered the penthouse Aidan had looked at him with the most serious look on her face that he was almost afraid of what she wanted to say to him.

"Let me help," Aidan said with a soft voice. She walked toward Bruce and stopped just a few feet away from him with worried eyes.

"No," Bruce said flatly, with a matter-of-factly tone of voice.

"Do not honestly tell me that you think you can do _everything_ on your own," Aidan was starting to look more angry than she was worried for him, a frown marring her face.

"The only life I'm every going to risk is my own; no one else's life needs to be in danger," Bruce stood his ground, telling Aidan through his eyes that he would not change his mind on his decision of not allowing her to help.

"Bruce, you can't defuse all of those bombs on your own! I saw them! I saw where they all are and it would be impossible for you to get to them all in less than two hours!" Aidan screamed at him with desperate eyes. "You can't do this by yourself!"

"_No_!" he screamed back at her, raising his voice so loudly that it stung Aidan's and his own ears. Aidan flinched away for a moment when Bruce raised his voice at her but she quickly shook it off and glared at him. Bruce slammed his foot hard, planting it firmly against the floor. "I'm not letting you do this! It might be too much for you! I can do it on my own!"

Aidan walked up to him and placed her hands gently against Bruce's chest. She had gone back to wearing the dress because she saw nothing else near by to wear at such short notice. "Please! Bruce! I know where they all are! Gotham is a big city; you can't possibly do it on your own! Let me help!" Her eyes were beginning to water as she imagined the city in flames and couldn't help but feel slightly responsible because she could do something about it.

Bruce looked away from Aidan's face. His hands were balled into tight fists and his eyebrows knitted together in anger. "_No_!" Bruce repeated again. He took in a few deep breaths and tried to calm himself down. Once his body became less tense, he turned back to Aidan and brought a hand up to hold her face gently. "You might… you might lose your mind again," Bruce whispered softly. He leaned his forehead against Aidan's and snaked his other arm around her waist. "I can't let you use your powers like this… This is too big… Like you said; the city is too big…"

"But Bruce…" Aidan leaned into Bruce's embrace and sighed sadly.

"You're going to stay here and just… just stay here and don't try anything I wouldn't want you to," Bruce whispered to her. "Stay here and wait for me?"

"Would you wait for me?" Aidan asked suddenly. She pulled away from Bruce just enough so that she could look into his eyes. Bruce wiped away the few tears that escaped away with his thumb and smiled warmly at her.

"I would wait forever for you," he leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss upon her forehead.

"There's your answer," Aidan whispered back to him, her voice sad and cracked when she spoke.

Bruce looked at her face once more before letting go of her and walking away. "Alfred, I need you to help me track," he called out when he saw Alfred standing by the elevator doors. He stepped into the elevator and was followed by a silent Alfred. Bruce smiled wearily at Aidan once more just before the doors closed.

--

Vaughn, Victor, and Siri sat near each other with Harvey sitting comfortably behind the large desk. Vaughn leaned up against the wall beside the door and kept his head bowed down and arms crossed over his chest. Victor sat on the floor a few feet in front of Vaughn and bounced his little rubber ball against the spot beside Vaughn's head, amazingly missing him each time. Siri took over the whole couch, lying across it with her hands behind her hand and her eyes closed as she feigned sleep.

Harvey leaned back against his chair, rocking it back and forth just slightly. He had his feet up on the table and he rolled his 'lucky' coin between his fingers. Every once and a while he would glance over at the clock as the seconds ticked closer and closer to midnight. He would also glance over at Vaughn, who he knew was only there to keep watch over his younger twin.

"By the way, nice laugh Vaughn," Victor said, breaking the silence in the room. He yelped and jumped from his seat on the floor suddenly when he felt a small jolt of electricity go up his leg. He looked up at Vaughn's fingers and saw small lightning bolts coming in and out of them. "Gees, lighten up…" Victor mumbled quietly to himself, though he knew that his brother would hear.

"Hey Two Face," Vaughn called out, his head lifting up enough to show his eyes glaring wrathfully at Harvey. "As soon as this is all over, I'm getting my brother and myself out of your… labour,"

Harvey just laughed at Vaughn's words, which made Vaughn a little angry but he brushed it off to bow his head back down.

"Vaughn! You care about me!" Victor said in an obviously fake enthusiasm.

"Shut up Victor," Vaughn bit back harshly.

"Gees…" Victor went back to bouncing his ball against the small spot beside Vaughn's head. He, too, would glance at the clock every now and then. The ball bouncing calmed him down a bit but not enough. He stopped bouncing his ball and turned to Siri sharply and frowned when he saw that she was still pretending to sleep. "Can you teleport us out of here already? I kind of don't want to be part of the burning masses,"

11:41PM

"Nope," Siri replied blankly, eyes still closed and body unmoving.

"Why the hell not?" Victor shouted in a panicked manner. "Am I missing something here that everybody else knows but me?"

"Yeah," Siri replied blankly again.

"Can you do something else other than just lying there like you're dead?" Victor's voice cracked a bit and everyone noticed. He turned away when Siri looked up at him and he went back to bouncing his ball.

"Hey Victor, she kind of looks like –"

"Fuck you Vaughn, _fuck you_," Victor spat out angrily.

Suddenly Siri's curiosity got the better of her and she turned around on the couch so that she was now facing the brothers. She raised her head up with her hand and held herself up by using her elbow as a prop. "Since you think that we're all obviously going to burn, how about telling me how you got those weird powers you have, hm?"

"We fell in a vat of chemicals," Victor replied quickly.

"Come on!" Siri shouted irritatingly.

Victor looked at Vaughn from the corner of his eye and they silently asked the other if it was really all right to talk about it. "Our dad liked to…" Victor started; making sure that his glare was still on Vaughn, "Tweak with things and being the curious little kids we were…"

"We played around with what he was experimenting on… As soon as he realized what it could do, he did more experiments but on other people," Vaughn finished for Victor, noticing how uncomfortable his younger twin seemed to be with the topic. "Father liked to experiment on orphans,"

Siri's narrowed her eyes and looked back and forth from Vaughn and Victor. As soon as the word 'orphan' left Vaughn's lips it hit a hard blow to Siri and she quickly sat up on the cough. Harvey noticed Siri's sudden change in mood and he turned around in his chair, putting his feet down, to get a better look of what was going to happen. "_Craig_ Thorne was your father's name?" Siri asked in a low voice, her hands gripping onto the edge of the couch.

"Yeah, what –" Victor's sentence was cut short when he suddenly found himself slammed up against the wall with a gun pointed to his throat. He looked down and saw Siri glaring angrily at him.

"I _wasn't_ an orphan!" Siri yelled at him as she pushed the gun harder against Victor's throat.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk; let go of him," Vaughn's hand gripped onto Siri's upper arm with an iron clasp. "That bullet takes a few seconds to actually leave the gun and my lightning bolts move much faster than that and your teleporting," Vaughn explained slowly, his words dripping with a threat that seemed like he would go through with it if the situation called for it. "I just need one second to cook you from the inside out so just let go and leave Victor alone,"

"Your _father_ took me away from my family! What makes you think I wouldn't want to do the same to him? If I had known that you were his son I would have gotten rid of you much earlier," Siri growled, the gun digging deeper into Victor's throat.

The sound of a single man clapping caused the three of them to pause and turn toward the sound. Harvey clapped his hands with a large grin on his face. "Now, now children, play nice," Harvey laughed and put his feet back up on the desk. He leaned back and moved around in his seat to get more comfortable as he slid a little in his chair. "You can kill each other after this is all over,"

"We're going to die anyway!" Victor retorted loudly, despite the fact that a gun was being pushed into his throat non-too gently. Siri suddenly dropped the gun and let out a sharp cry of pain, taking a few steps back and cradled her arm close to her chest. She glared angrily at Vaughn, his hands showing traces of the electricity he had just used. "You'll bruise all over your arm but don't worry, it goes away after a couple of weeks," Vaughn went back to his spot against the wall, going back to leaning against it with his head bent forward.

Victor turned to Harvey and his eyes widened in fear as he saw Harvey getting ready to flip his coin. "Oh god! Don't tell me you're going to decide whether or not we're going to leave with a fucking coin toss?!"

Harvey Two Face threw the coin into the air.

"He threw the fucking coin…" Victor moved away from the wall, noticeably avoiding Siri as he walked toward Harvey's desk.

"We stay," Harvey said as he caught the coin in his hands. The only person in the room who seemed to care was Victor who opened his mouth in a silent scream of frustration. "Relax, it's all part of the plan,"

11:57PM

"You're fucking crazy! You're going to leave our lives to chance?" Victor slammed his fists hard against the desk near Harvey's feet but he didn't seem fazed by it at all.

"Never failed me before,"

--

11:27PM

Alfred and Batman had located every single bomb in the city through their aerial scan and only realized one thing: there was far too many of them. The bombs were placed within the sewer system but that only made things slightly easier. There were bombs placed every ten metres in all directions of the city.

Batman had already stepped into the sewers and found out another thing that just made it more annoying. Each bomb was something he was very familiar with. They were sensitive to the touch, so he couldn't just pull them off from their spot on the wall so that also meant that he had to go to each one and turn it off manually. However, nothing seemed to be impossible for Batman.

He moved as quickly as he could from each bomb through the sewers but was also very careful. He had managed to get rid of the majority of bombs in the eastern end of Gotham but that just wasn't enough. Every time Batman would defuse a bomb he would always check his watch and he knew Aidan was right as the minutes ticked by; he couldn't do this alone.

But Batman was still bent on not allowing Aidan to help him, trying to keep his mind off of her as much as he could to focus more on the bombs, and would allow anyone but her to help. His suit was becoming soaked in sewer water and Batman was sure that the stink was sticking onto his suit and would take many tries to try to get it out. He could hear the civilians up above him on the streets. Each one was screaming and yelling at the other one as they all tried to get out of the city as fast as they could.

He could hear police sirens wailing by over him as they tried to get everyone calm enough to avoid riots and/or any casualties. He had also called the Commissioner earlier to let him know that he knew where the bombs were and was defusing them at this very moment. Gordon had offered a few people who were experts with bombs to help him but Batman wasn't so sure that those people could handle or even knew how to defuse this type on bomb without panicking. However, he let them help just so Gordon could stop yelling into his ear.

"How are the others doing Alfred?" Batman asked while trying not to breath in the stink through his mouth when he spoke.

"_They are moving much, much slower than you are but they seem to be doing fine_," Alfred replied from his end of the communicator.

"How many more bombs are still out there Alfred?" Batman held in his breath not because of the smell but because he was afraid of what Alfred would tell him.

"_You still have ¾ of the city sir, are you sure you don't want Miss Aidan's help_?"

"No!" Batman roared.

11:46PM

Batman quickened his pace a notch, trying to out run time. Every couple of bombs he would defuse at least one minute would pass by. However, that didn't seem to stop him. He barked out orders for the bomb experts to hurry up and to spread out to try and make things go by faster.

11:54PM

And, just like he expected, his frightening order made the others move faster and when Batman asked Alfred how many more bombs were left he was pleased with the answer.

"_About a little more than half of the city is left sir_,"

11:58PM

"How many more left, Alfred?"

"_A little less than half sir_," and then suddenly his voice came back again, "_Sir, something is happening…_"

11:59PM

"What is it?" Batman looked at the timer he had on his arm and watched as the seconds went by.

"_The bombs, they're suddenly deactivating on their own at a rapid rate_,"

"What do you mean 'on their own' Alfred?" Batman stopped walking around and kept his eyes glued on the timer on his forearm. He looked around him and saw many, many more bombs stuck up against the walls in the sewer's tunnels.

"_There is no sign of anyone near by and they are deactivating far too quickly for any average man to do on his own_,"

--

11:43PM

Aidan had been pacing all around Bruce's penthouse that she was starting to leave marks on the floor. Every so often she would glance over at the clock and then glance back at the object in her hands: Joker's pocketknife. She fiddled with it, rolled it from one hand to the other, and even poked at it as she counted down to midnight.

Once she saw that there was but fifteen minutes left until the supposed dooms' day, Aidan sank down to the ground with her legs crossed beneath her. She held onto the pocketknife tightly in her hands as she took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly, her eyes shutting on their own.

As soon as her eyes closed she instantly saw the city from an aerial view. She could see the tiny people in the distance in their little cars as they all rushed toward the city borders and tried to get through the masses to get out before midnight. Aidan quietly patted herself on the back and also thanked Bruce a little for putting the necklace on her; she had learned many new techniques in such a short amount of time she surprised herself.

She quickly erased the people, the cars, the streets and roads, and all the buildings to see the areas underneath the city's surface. Aidan quickly saw Batman from the distance as he hurried to defuse the bombs but she could see that he wouldn't be able to get to them all even with the extra help on the other side of the city.

11:49PM

Aidan quickly started to locate the bombs that Batman wouldn't be able to get to with her mind and locked onto each one she found. Sweat rolled down the side of her face as she concentrated more and more. Her eyes began to squeeze tightly while her hands gripped on so tightly to the pocketknife that her knuckles were turning white. She bit her lip as she soon felt the strain from locating the bombs _and_ keeping tabs on them at the same time.

She started to breath in and out slowly, her chest rising and falling in a rhythmic pattern. She then started to try and calm herself down but found that to be more difficult because she almost lost one of the bombs she was holding onto mentally. Once she had grabbed onto all the bombs with her mind she started to figure out how to deactivate it.

11:57PM

Her jaw tightened and her lips were pushed into a tight line the more she concentrated. Soon she slowly started to feel a little lightheaded but she kept on holding on as much as she could. And Aidan was right about one thing: there were way too many of them.

11:59PM

Aidan figured out how to deactivate them and started to deactivate them all. She saw small sparks coming out from the bombs as they were deactivate and the small timer that was placed on them went black as it shut off. The bombs went off like a quicker version of the domino effect. First it was one, then two, then four and it just kept on doubling up like that.

Suddenly, her vision that was so clear and bright to her was starting to darken but Aidan refused to stop and let go. She continued to watch the bombs shut down while veins appeared at the side of her head from the tension and stress she felt.

"I'm sorry Bruce," Aidan whispered quietly to the empty air of the penthouse.

--

12:00AM

The small watch on Batman's watch started to beep to signal that midnight had come. He glanced around him as he waited for anything at all to happen but… nothing did. He could hear the people up above him become silent for a few seconds before they all cheered loudly as soon as they realized that the bombs were taken care of. Then, Batman realized something as well.

"No…" he breathed and then gasped when he realized why the remaining bombs didn't go off. "Alfred!" Batman shouted into the communicator, "Alfred! What happened to the bombs?"

"_They've all been shut off sir_,"

Batman turned around and rushed to the nearest exit. Instead of climbing up the ladder to go through the manhole, he shot his grappling hook to the step nearest to he top and hooked on. As he jerked upward he held his arm out and successfully banged the manhole open and landed on the streets of Gotham. A few of the civilians gasped in surprise at seeing him come out of nowhere and they all stepped away from him warily.

Batman pushed a button on his arm and waited impatiently for his Batpod to come zooming by to then stop abruptly in front of him. He hopped on quickly and drove off toward the penthouse. The loud roar of his Batpod told others he was nearing to step to the side quickly before they even knew whom it was and why they should jump out of the way. A few people cheered him when he passed by them while others just continued to back away in fear.

Instead of going straight to the building where his penthouse was, Batman broke through into the parking lot beside the penthouse's building and raced to the highest level at top speed. Once he reached the top of the parking lot he didn't stop until he was at the side facing the penthouse building. He aimed his grappling hook toward one of his windows and fired.

As soon as he saw the grappling hook crash through the window, Batman didn't even wait a few seconds before letting the grappling hook drag him through the window. Batman rolled across the floor as soon as he passed through the windows. Once he stopped he looked up and scanned the area to see where Aidan was – or if she was still there.

Batman's breath became stuck in his throat when his eyes caught sight of Aidan lying on the floor. Her hair was fanned out and covered part of her face as she lay on her side with the dress also fanning out around her legs. He got up to his feet slowly and walked toward her with quiet steps. When he was a few feet away from her, he removed his Batman cowl and looked at her through the eyes of Bruce Wayne.

Bruce knelt beside her and picked her up carefully, almost afraid to break her. Aidan's head rolled back and her body left heavier than usual as her arms fell lifelessly toward the ground. The pocketknife that Aidan's hand had been gripping rolled out of her fingers and onto the cold floor. Bruce quickly removed his gloves and felt Aidan's face with the back of his hand.

Aidan's body wasn't too cold but it still worried Bruce. He lowered his ear down and pressed it against Aidan chest, where her heart would be. He breathed a sigh of relief when he heard her slow and steady heart beating in her chest. "Aidan," he whispered when he pulled away to look at her face, "Aidan," Bruce pushed her hair away from her face and his worry started to turn to panic.

"Aidan?" he said in a more forceful tone of voice. "Aidan!" Bruce shook Aidan but not in a rough way. "_Aidan!_"

--

"She is in a deep coma, she seems to have gone through a large amount of stress,"

"Just like all the other coma cases, we can't be certain when or if she would ever wake up… There have been stories of patients waking up from their comas, yes, but the chances are very slim,"

"I wouldn't hold my breath if I were you, Mister Wayne,"

Bruce sighed as he remembered the doctors' words. He stood within a painfully bright white room and everything in the room was sterilized at least three times, if not more. The sunlight pouring in through the large window he stood in front of didn't help with the lighting in the room, making him feel slightly blind when he would look back into the room.

The room was also small and had a single bed with a single chair beside it. Bruce had specifically asked for a private room where only a chosen few were allowed to enter. He didn't want any of those civilians who wanted her gone – dead or alive – to see her like this.

He kept his back straight and his face stern despite how much he just wanted to go up to her and hold her tightly. Bruce kept his eyes staring out the window and watched as two birds nuzzled against the other in the tree in front of him. Bruce sighed and turned away quickly, his eyes falling upon Aidan's slumbering form.

She lay still on the bed as the monitor beeped every now and then to tell others that she was still alive. She looked a bit pale and still looked cold to the touch. Bruce walked around the bed to stand on the side closest to the door. He let his hand brush softly against her chilled face and pushed a few stray hairs away from her face. Bruce reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, velvet covered box and pushed it open with his thumb.

Inside the box was a ring with a three diamonds placed side by side to each other, the middle one bigger than the other two. It shined and glittered in the sunlight, the silver band sparkling in his eyes. Bruce looked at Aidan and pulled his hand away, and then looked back to the ring inside the box. He looked behind him to see if anyone was watching before placing the ring on the desk beside Aidan's bed and kept it open so that if Aidan did wake up soon it would be the first thing she saw.

"I told you," Bruce started, speaking a low whisper so that no one else would be able to hear him, "I would wait forever," He bent forward and placed a light kiss upon Aidan's forehead and pulled away before anymore feelings of sadness would come up. He turned away and quickly strode out the door. However, if Bruce had stayed behind for just a bit more he would have seen the smallest, quickest, almost unnoticeable twitch of Aidan's hand.

--

Batman walked with large, quick steps through the halls of Arkham Asylum. He pushed anyone out from his path, almost shoving him or her to the ground because of the amount of force he used. Behind him were a few officials and Commissioner Gordon trying to catch up to him, trying to stop him or at least slow him down. "Please!" someone called out to him, "You can't do this!"

"Watch me," Batman growled out.

Down at the end of the hallway, coming into his line of vision, he saw the door that lead to the room he was pushing and shoving everyone out from his way to get to. There were two large guards standing by the door, however Batman just kept on walking. He even started to walk faster. Once he reached the door he stopped and glared at the two guards standing in his way.

There were a few other inmates that stuck out their forearms through the small opening in the door that was big enough to only fit just that, their forearm. They all tried to grab onto Batman, moaning and groaning in a sickly way that would make any normal person cringe at the thought of passing by them.

"_Open the door_," Batman snarled at the two guards.

The two guards were obviously afraid but stayed where they were and refused to open the door. They were either the bravest of them all or the most stupid to stand in an angry Batman's way.

Batman grabbed onto both of their collars and lifted them up into the air. He slammed them both against the wall behind them and he snarled again, his eyes burning with fire. "Open the door, _now_!"

The two guards nodded their heads at the same time and Batman let them go so they could open the door. The two rushed out of the way as soon as the door was unlocked and Batman walked in, slamming the door behind him with so much force that it felt like the whole asylum shook. He quickly melted the handle of the door and the area around it to prevent anyone else from following him because he knew they would once they realize what he was doing inside the room.

"Oh! A – a visitor? How… how – how good to see you bat – _Batman_!" Joker hopped into a sitting position on his not-so stylish bed. Both his hands and feet were cuffed together and a chain was holding the two cuffs together, from hands to feet. He wore a dirtied white jump suit, looking a bit odd from his usual purple and green garb. However, his make-up and disgustingly yellow teeth remained the same.

Batman lunged at him, grabbed Joker by the collar and slamming him against the south wall. However, the laughing response he got from Joker wasn't what he wanted to hear. "I could kill you right now,"

"But you _won't_!" Joker said, kind of sounding like he was disappointed at that fact. "Some str – strange reason you just uh… you can't get rid – can't – can't get rid of your goody two-shoes s – self!"

Batman rushed over to Joker again and picked up him by the collar of his one-piece jumpsuit. "Tell me if you knew!" Batman snarled. He could hear the officials of the asylum and Gordon banging against he door, yelling at him to open up. "Tell me if you knew it would happen!" he continued, ignoring the others' cries.

"I – I… I kind of don't uh, don't know what you – you're talking a – about," Joker said in between fits of hysterical laughter.

Batman pulled Joker toward him to slam him back against the wall, hard. "You knew what would happen to her! Why? Why would you do that?"

"Why – why… why would you care what I did to – to my… _my_ woman?" Joker earned himself another slam against the wall but he just laughed in response to Batman's anger.

"She will never be your woman!" Batman pushed his fist that held onto Joker's collar hard against Joker's chest, noticing how he seemed uncomfortable but still continued to laugh. "You don't even care about her…"

"Well – well, I would say l – love but… but – but _love_ is too much of uh… of uh – of a strong word… I – I would call it some – something more like… like _morbid fascination_…" Joker let out a surprised gasp when Batman threw him to the ground with so much force that it actually hurt that time.

"_Why_?!" Batman screamed, his voice cracking from all the screaming he was doing.

"Well…" Joker started, pushing himself up as much as he could to go into a sitting position on the hard, cold floor. "Well… if… if she is – is going to be _my_ woman then… then – then she'll need to learn that – that it isn't just going to be – to be chocolate and ro – roses with me but… but I wouldn't… wouldn't… wouldn't…" Joker stumbled on his words more and more as he tried to explain what he was trying to get at. He looked a little unsure and a bit confused as he tried to think of the words that were slowly forming together in his unstable mind.

"I wouldn't… think… that – that… you – you could live hap – hap – happily ever after with her because… because… it would – it would… ha – have to be a… a secret!" Joker clapped his hands cheerfully when he seemed to have found the word he was trying to think of, the smile appearing on his face despite the fact that blood was slowly starting to seeping through the area around his shoulder. Batman listened to whatever Joker had to say, becoming more curious than he was angry now.

"You – you wouldn't want… wouldn't want… your – your… your… enemies! Enemies! You wouldn't want your enemies to… to… find… to find out your – your secret! Your secret identity when… when you… when you go public! When you go public with your – your relationship with… with Aidan! Do you?

"With – with – with me… there's – there's nothing to worry about be – because I – I… I don't have a secret! Don't have a secret iden – identity! You have to – you have to keep… keep an image so that you don't… you don't… so that they can't kill – kill you when – when you're… you're not Batman! See?" Joker clapped his hands happily again, his shoulder almost practically covered in his blood. He saw Batman's distant eyes and clapped his hands some more. "So… I – I… I win! Again!"

Batman stayed standing there, listening to Joker's words as they slowly sunk in. His anger started to slowly go away and he secretly wanted to hear more of what Joker had to say. Batman would never admit it out loud but… Joker had a point.

**End Chapter**

**A/N:** OMG! Can you believe that just happened? I feel so bad for Bruce/Batman. Joker's "morbid fascination" is just too much! Tell me how you felt about the chapter! I'm curious to see what your reactions were, hehe.


	15. Chapter Fifteen

**A/N:** Ah! Sorry the long wait on the update! Well, it's long to me... I had a lot of things to do these passed few days. I'm moving into the college dorms soon - first year - and I needed to get everything ready. The most annoying part was that I found out one of the payments were late, by a couple of days only though so... I still feel slightly embarrassed for that but it's not my fault! Mom was keeping all the files... Anyway! I'm sorry if this chapter isn't that very good... I also kind of ran into a wall on this one, and hopefully you won't notice why, hehe...

**Important Note:** The updates might becoming a little farther apart now since I'll be starting college soon. But don't worry! I won't forget about this story! I'm far too in love with it to forget.

To Fuyu Tenshi: Yeah, Siri's past will be a little clouded and unknown for a bit but not for that long. Vaughn helped his brother out of course, they are after all brothers and there's also a little other reason why he would protect Victor like that. And yes, Bruce is adorable! He _would_ wait forever :P

To PandylBas: Glad you think what Joker said to be correct :o

To pinkskier05: Haha, I'm glad your jaw was to the floor - that was what I was hoping for!

**Disclaimer:** Owning of none, except for all the original characters now way related to the Batman - except for this story of course - and this plot.

Enjoy!

**In the last chapter:**

"You – you wouldn't want… wouldn't want… your – your… your… enemies! Enemies! You wouldn't want your enemies to… to… find… to find out your – your secret! Your secret identity when… when you… when you go public! When you go public with your – your relationship with… with Aidan! Do you?

"With – with – with me… there's – there's nothing to worry about be – because I – I… I don't have a secret! Don't have a secret iden – identity! You have to – you have to keep… keep an image so that you don't… you don't… so that they can't kill – kill you when – when you're… you're not Batman! See?" Joker clapped his hands happily again, his shoulder almost practically covered in his blood. He saw Batman's distant eyes and clapped his hands some more. "So… I – I… I win! Again!"

Batman stayed standing there, listening to Joker's words as they slowly sunk in. His anger started to slowly go away and he secretly wanted to hear more of what Joker had to say. Batman would never admit it out loud but… Joker had a point.

**Chapter Fifteen**

_Two Months Later_…

Two long whole months since the bomb incident and things were starting to go back to normal – or as normal as normal can be in Gotham City. Many of the citizens stayed living in Gotham while a few decided to move away, or take a very long vacation. The city seemed almost empty now, with the exception of one or two crimes that happen, it seemed like a ghost town.

During the day Bruce Wayne would volunteer at the hospital and had specifically asked to stay on the third floor – where Aidan was being cared for. He would sometimes be found passing by her room but would only stay for a few minutes before he was seen by anyone else. Bruce seemed the same as he had always been; yet a few people who were paying attention noticed something very different about him if they just cared enough to listen to the sound of his cracking voice.

The Commissioner was also so kind enough to visit the slumbering Aidan, but was never there at the same time Bruce would pass by. Gordon would sit beside her bed and just talk to her, telling her things going on with the city and other such things. He had been told of what she had done to get herself into that situation by Batman and he felt very proud of her. Gordon would tell her that every time he visited, just before he would leave. He had also told the city of hers and Batman's combined efforts to help with the bombs, hoping that would get rid of some of the enmity.

Once the sun would go down the criminals would come out however, the city's caped crusader seemed to have other things more important to take care of. Batman stayed as close as possible to the hospital as he started to become paranoid that someone, at any given time, would try to do something to Aidan. Each night he could be seen perched on top of one of the buildings surrounding the hospital and just cleaning up around that area only. There wasn't ever a minute that would go by where Aidan wouldn't be watched over.

Commissioner Gordon was once again sitting beside Aidan's bed and talking about the day and yesterday's events. He laughed when he talked about a few things his son did at school and frowned when he talked about the things happening on the streets. Gordon glanced up to pat Aidan's hand when something shiny caught his eye on the other side of the table. He looked around curiously, staring out the windows that peered into the hallway and then stood up to walk toward the shiny object. Gordon pulled out a pen from his pocket, his investigation habits of not leaving any fingerprints getting the better of him, and poked at the small object inside the box.

The ring he saw looked incredibly expensive and it was almost a shame that it looked like it was just left there, telling by the little dust he saw on it. From Gordon's experience, the cut of the diamond made it shine all the more even when no light bounced from it and the silver was actually white gold. "I wonder who left this for you," Gordon smiled to himself as he examined the ring more closely without touching it, bending forward slightly.

He straightened himself up when he heard footsteps coming into the room and turned around to see whom it was. A single brow went up on Gordon's face when he saw that infamous billionaire playboy that practically every woman was going crazy over. Bruce was wearing the traditional male's nurse uniform that was coloured a pale green, unlike the woman's uniform that was a pale blue. Bruce smiled at Gordon, the young man's boyish charm clearly there yet Gordon noticed the faint sign of fatigue around the boy's eyes.

"I left that for her," Bruce said, answering Gordon's question, and pointed to the small box behind Gordon. Bruce continued smiling at Gordon as he brought his hands back behind him and folded them together neatly. When he saw Gordon give him a confused look, Bruce chuckled lightly. "I've been volunteering here, if you were wondering why I'm wearing what I'm wearing or why I'm here at all,"

"Oh no, not that," Gordon laughed nervously and turned his head to look at Aidan. "I always thought that she would be more of a Batman fan rather than a Wayne fan, no offense," Gordon put the pen back into his pocket and fully turned his body toward Aidan.

"None taken," Bruce walked up beside Aidan's bed, standing beside Commissioner Gordon, and reached out to take a hold of Aidan's hand. Of course, Gordon noticed this and couldn't help the large smile that appeared on his face.

"I mean, I've heard many rumours from my wife and my daughter – they like the gossip – and it was said that you were seen around the city with her," Gordon continued the small talk, his hands going into his pockets and his eyes turning away from Bruce's and Aidan's locked hands. "Well, I still really thought she would end up with Batman since those two seemed almost inseparable,"

"But?" Bruce asked Gordon when it seemed like the older man had trailed off on his words.

Gordon looked up at Bruce in surprise before a smile settled back on his face. "But… I think it would be safer if she were with you,"

Bruce let go of Aidan's hand, reluctantly, and brought them back to his sides. He turned to Gordon and held his hand out to him, forcing a smile to his face but one wouldn't be able to tell if it was forced or not. "It was nice speaking to you, Commissioner Gordon, but I have to get back to my volunteer duties,"

"Oh! Of course," Gordon shook Bruce's hand politely and watched the younger man walk away and out of the room. As soon as he was sure that Bruce was out of hearing range, he turned back to Aidan and chuckled. "Hm… Is Batman Bruce Wayne, and Bruce Wayne is Batman?" he asked himself out loud. A few seconds passed and Gordon started to laugh, shaking off the idea of the Dark Knight and the Playboy being one and the same. "Of course not," Gordon mumbled.

"Commissioner, we should go now,"

Gordon turned around and saw Detective Ramirez standing outside the door with her head poking inside. Gordon nodded to her and turned around to look at Aidan. "I've got to go to a city wide funeral procession… The families from that um, incident have all named the victims and are now going to be buried so just… Hang in there kid," he patted her head affectionately, something he would do to one of his own children, before heading out the door and leaving Aidan alone once more.

--

Meanwhile, somewhere within the hotel building that Two Face was currently 'taking over', Two Face waited patiently for his little group to hurry and make their way to the office he was in. He was wearing a very brand new and very clean-cut dark gray suit with a black tie and a white shirt underneath. He spun his 'lucky' coin over again and again on the table as he waited for the three to enter the room.

The first to enter was Siri and Victor. Victor had made it his mission to try and disappear from their radar and Siri made it her mission to keep Victor in her sight. The two of them appeared a few feet in front of the door with Siri holding onto Victor's arm with a vice grip and Victor trying to get away from her – mostly because her vice grip really did hurt.

Victor had thought that there was no point in him using his abilities when only Siri would be affected, since he would have to try and avoid all those guards placed around the building and he wasn't much of a fighter. Two Face had seen Victor's eyes go a dark red and automatically assumed that he and Vaughn were doing one of their little tricks again, completely not wanting to know what it was – yet.

Siri quickly let go on Victor's arm with a half snarl and walked over to the couch that she loved to occupy. Her clothes were different now, but still very revealing. She wore high black knee boots and extremely short black mini shorts. Around her waist was a little belt with one or two pockets for various items she thought would be needed to take around with her at all times. Her top looked and acted like a corset that was white with black vertical stripes to match her hair, kind of. Siri's hair grew a bit in the passed two months, but was still the same: black on top and white underneath.

After a few more minutes, Victor pacing around the small space he was able to walk around with coming into close contact with Siri, Vaughn finally entered the room. One could completely tell the twins apart not through their face but through their clothes. While Victor dressed like a lazy man in his early twenties would dress, Vaughn looked more like a businessman in his first-rate suits. Of course, the different of their eye colour was another way to tell them apart.

"Finally," Two Face slammed his hand against his spinning coin to spot it while staring at the three people who had just entered the room, "We can start this little 'meeting',"

"We are still allowed to roam the asylum freely thanks to the 'good work' my father had done, but Victor was forced to wear an 'astronaut suit' and I had a bucket of water thrown at me," Vaughn turned his head to the side and looked at Siri's arm, the one he had bruised. He smiled at her when he saw that there were still a few light bruises and chuckled when Siri turned her head angrily away from him. "But the wing they hold Joker is off limits to us,"

Two Face nodded his head and turned his chair around so that he was fully facing Siri.

"I managed to get passed the security and into that wing unnoticed, I know that place like I know the back of my hand now but of course I couldn't get into the rooms with all those guards there," Siri upturned her nose in a snobbish manner, acting as if everything thrown at her was the easiest task ever.

"While the majority of the city will be at the funeral procession and ceremony, Siri will teleport Vaughn and Victor into the asylum," Two Face stood up from his seat, pushing it a foot or so away from him with the back of his knees when he got up. He flipped his coin high into the air, caught it in his hand, and flipped it over and smacking it on the back of his other hand.

"Was that coin toss to decide whether or not you want us killing whoever gets in our way?" Victor asked in a bitter tone, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes glaring at Two Face.

"You will leave everyone in the asylum in a drunken stupor while your brother will take care of everything else,"

"Goodie; we don't kill anyone," Victor faked cheerfulness and turned to walk out of the room. "I don't see why we – why _I_ have to go get Joker out from that place anyway! I _hate_ that place!" he grumbled angrily.

--

"_There's been a break out! I repeat: there's been a break out! Everyone who are still within the border of Arkham Asylum are advised to stay within a safe place and do not interact with anyone!_"

The sirens wailed and many of the people working as guards and anything related to security raced around the perimeter to make sure that there was no one there trying to get. It was in the middle of the afternoon and there was no one fool enough to try and escape with so much light shining down on them – though in Arkham, much of the sky was covered with clouds of darkness.

A psychiatrist and his assistant walked calmly through the asylum's halls, with the assistant's calm façade breaking just slightly whenever someone would run by. They walked at a quick pace with the psychiatrist a little a head of his assistant. His back was stiffly straight and he would ever so often push the glasses back and away from the tip of his nose as they slipped a bit whenever he took a step. His amazingly immaculate white uniform billowed behind him smoothly from his quick pace, no wind around at all.

"Docteur Faraday, me pardonner, but should we not follow their orders and stay somewhere sûr?" the assistant said with a shaky voice, her hazel eyes glancing back and forth at the area around her.

"Miss _Delacroix_, you need some help in your translations and if you were so worried why didn't you stay in the office instead of following me?" Faraday turned to his right so sharply that Miss Delacroix barely had time to register that he had turned at the corner. He glanced around him, looking left and right a couple of times, before stopping in front of a large steal door. He went through quickly, leaving Miss Delacroix to close the door behind her, and descended down a large amount of steps.

Faraday ran his hands through his short jet-black hair and sighed tiredly as he continued to walk down the stairs and into the darkness. There were lights where he was going and it didn't look like there would be any light switches or any form of light there either. "If you do not wish to think of me differently, Miss Delacroix, then I suggest you go back upstairs and out the door," he whispered quietly to her, only because of his body's need to rest that he kept from using too much force his in words.

"Pourquoi?" Miss Delacroix asked in curiosity, her mentor never giving her a verbal acknowledgement that she had a choice for what she wanted to do before.

Just then they reached the bottom of the steps and there was a dim light in the distance. It seemed like they were at the very bottom, many stories below the surface of Arkham Asylum and that the room they were in was exactly that; one big room. Miss Delacroix heard her mentor's footsteps starting to walk again after a brief pause and she quickly caught up to him, despite her lack of vision at the moment. "What is going on Docteur?"

"_Well_! You finally make – make it!"

Miss Delacroix gasped in both fear and shock when she saw one of the patients they were treating standing beside the dim light that she now saw to be a small fire on a torch stand. She instinctively went behind Doctor Faraday to try and hide from the clinically insane man who insisted on wearing a messed up version of clown's makeup.

"I told you to turn around," Faraday whispered as the two of them neared Joker. "I have the virus,"

"Good! Good – good… where – where is it?" Joker didn't step away from the torch, wanting to see everything that was going on. He waited patiently as he watched the doctor pulled something out from his pocket and held it out toward him. It was a small vial with a dark green liquid inside.

"This thing isn't even powerful even to kill… it just makes people…" Faraday looked into Joker's eyes with a serious expression, his hands loosening around the vial until it just lay there in his palm. "Smile," he finished.

Joker took the vial happily out from the doctor's hands, snatching it up into his own and admiring it closely.

"It should be easy to make more of those on your own, whether they be liquid or gas form and I made sure to give you immunity to it the last time I gave you a 'shot'," Faraday explained in one quick breath.

Miss Delacroix continued to hide behind Faraday, unsure of what she should do. She listened to her mentor's words, shocked yet not ashamed as she realized that he had been employed by the Joker to create some sort of virus. "Docteur Faraday, _why_?" she whispered to him, her small hands clinging onto the back of his white coat uniform.

"Because he's keeping _me_ a secret," Faraday kept his stern eyes focused on Joker, despite his body slowly failing him as the fatigue was catching up to him. His eyes were a strange mix of blue and green; blue around the centre and a green ring around that blue.

"Craig? What is going on?" Miss Delacroix could barely speak now as she was slowly discovering that the mentor she thought she knew was the complete opposite of what she had imagined.

Joker slipped the vial somewhere in one of his pockets since he had acquired his old garb some time ago and was wearing it again. He bowed thankfully to Doctor Faraday and bowed his head, accompanied with a sly grin, at Miss Delacroix and hopped away quickly.

Faraday turned around to face his assistant and was met with a hard slap across the side of his face. He stared at Miss Delacroix with uncaring eyes as she stared at him in anger. "Hitting me is not going to change the situation at all, Rayne," he told her matter-of-factly.

"What have you just done? Do you not have any morals or virtues in you to _not_ help a man like him? He is a criminel – he is an insane criminal! Craig, what are you hiding from to… to do whatever that man said to do?" Rayne shouted at him, tears in her eyes as her 'hero' was just exposed in front of her eyes.

Craig sighed and pushed Rayne aside gently. "I will not have this argument with you – of all people – so just leave it be Rayne," he said as he started to walk back I the direction he had come from.

--

"Where the hell did he go?"

Victor, Vaughn, and Siri had just teleported within the walls of the asylum. As soon as Victor's eyes focused on his surroundings, he smiled semi-triumphantly as a few of the people around them started to wobble and were having a hard time standing on their feet. Siri kept them up to her pace, making sure that they followed her through all the doors she had unlocked by teleporting to the other side of it. She was wearing a very tight mask on, making sure that she wouldn't be affected and found it a little interesting that Vaughn looked like he was trying to resist it without much failure.

Vaughn zapped every surveillance camera they came into, making sure that they couldn't be identified. He also zapped open a few of the steel barred doors of some patients, lucky that they were under the influence of his brother's ability so that they wouldn't be a bother to the trio.

They had made it to Joker's room, or where Joker was supposed to be in but found that it was completely bare except for that lonely bed in the centre. Siri frowned and started to teleport all around the building, trying to locate where Joker could be – he couldn't have gone far if Victor was able to reach him and 'influence' him into a drunken stupor.

As the minutes ticked on by and just as they were about to just blow the place up – not literally – in anger, Joker bounced into the room with a little mask over his nose and mouth. He smiled but the mask covered his smile and he frowned a little. "Hello boys,"

Joker opened his jacket and pulled out a small vial, shaking it a bit in front of Vaughn and Victor before putting it back in its place. He looked at Vaughn knowingly and tapped two fingers against his wrist as if he were gesturing that they were late for something.

Vaughn turned to his younger sibling with very stern but worried eyes. "I have to go – don't die," Vaughn said in a low voice. He watched Victor roll his eyes at him, something he was expecting, but waiting until Victor nodded his head in acknowledgement.

"Off to go carry out that 'evil plan' of yours?" Victor said jokingly, but both Vaughn and Joker knew that he was being serious.

Siri chose that moment to appear right in between the twins and Joker. She looked at the twins for a few quick seconds before turning around to face Joker who smiled wickedly at her.

"You can – you can tell Harvey that I uh, that I appreciate all of uh… of this but I – I… I work _solo_, with – with the exception of Vaughn, of – of course," Joker bowed low to Siri and nodded his head to Vaughn as he brought his body back so that he was standing up straight.

Siri's eyes widened when she realized what was about to happen and went to teleport out of the room but was a few seconds too late. Vaughn quickly sent a bolt of electricity at her and she fell limply to her side. She looked up at Victor and frowned when the young man turned away from her. Vaughn walked forward and passed Siri until he was face to face with Joker. "Let's hurry before Victor's nose starts to bleed,"

However, as he said this, a small drop fell out from one of Vaughn's nostrils. He wiped it away quickly, pushing passed Joker and walking out of the door. Joker smiled at Victor and Siri one last time before rushing out the door behind him.

"Siri," Victor said suddenly, startling the girl a bit, "Could we go to the hospital for a second?"

"What for?" Siri tried to push herself up but her arms and legs still felt a little tingly and it was a very odd feeling.

"I just need to see someone, that's all…"

**End Chapter**


	16. Note!

**Author's Note:**

I am so sorry! I really did not want to do this but I felt like I had no other choice...

A sudden, new thought came to me and I told myself, "This story isn't what I had wanted it to be in some sort of odd way..." so then I thought... "I'll just re-write it!"

I know, I know. Not a very nice thing to do when I'm so far out into the story and haven't even finished it yet but I will promise you: it **will** be better! There is no turning back from here (because I already finished chapter one and am now working on chapter two). So please, stay tuned. I will re-post the chapters as soon as I have chapter three done because I want you have at least have something to read.

Again, I am **very** sorry about this. I also know that author's aren't allowed to just post their notes as a chapter but I couldn't do it any other way. I would have just told all the people on the alert list one by one but... If you didn't know, I'm not too fond of that because I'm a lazy person. Why not just kill a whole bunch of birds with one stone?

The chapters will be coming in as fast as I possibly can but I can't promise you anything since I will be starting college very soon and will be moving into the dorms this Sunday (August 24th). Please don't be angry with me, and please be patient with me.

I'm working on it!


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